Around 28 million voters were registered to vote in national and provincial elections.
Millions of South Africans went to the polls on May 29 for national and provincial elections that could test the 30-year rule of the African National Congress (ANC).
Partial results are expected over the next three days, with final results likely on Sunday, according to the South African Electoral Commission (IEC).
Results will appear below as soon as they are available.
Previous election results
The ANC has won every national election since the end of apartheid in 1994, when Nelson Mandela became the country’s first black president.
In 1994, the ANC won 62.5% of the vote. In 1999, it obtained 66.4 percent. In 2004, it reached its highest levels, winning almost 70 percent of the vote. In 2009, it won nearly 66 percent, and in 2014, it won 62 percent.
In the last 2019 elections, the ANC achieved the lowest margin of victory, winning 57.5 percent of the vote.
The opposition Democratic Alliance (DA) party has come second in the last five elections.
Parties in the current National Assembly
The lower house of parliament is currently represented by 400 members from 14 political parties, distributed proportionally based on the votes each party received in the 2019 elections.
- African National Congress (ANC): 230 seats (57.5 percent)
- Democratic Alliance (AD): 84 seats (21 percent)
- Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF): 44 seats (11 percent)
- Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP): 14 seats (3.5 percent)
Ten other parties occupy the remaining 28 seats.
How is the president elected?
South Africans do not vote directly for the president.
Instead, they elect members of the National Assembly, who then elect the president by a simple majority – 201 or more votes determine the presidency.
If the ANC wins a majority, President Cyril Ramaphosa, 71, will likely be re-elected as president to serve his second and final five-year term.
What if no party wins a majority?
Opinion polls suggest that the ANC, which is in power, is hovering around 40 percentmay lose the majority.
If this happens, the ANC will have to make a deal with other parties to form a coalition government. The choice of coalition partner will depend on the support needed to surpass the 50 percent mark.
However, unless the ANC performs much worse than expected, there is a small likelihood that it will be completely removed from power.
What are the main parties in the race?
Four of the biggest players to watch out for in this year’s elections are the ANC, the DA, the MK and the EFF.
When will the final results be announced?
In the last national elections held on May 8, 2019, the final results were announced three days later, on May 11.
However, this year, with one more vote to count, verifying the results may take longer.
The IEC says it will announce the election results on Sunday, June 2.
This story originally appeared on Aljazeera.com read the full story