Ex-President Jacob Zuma’s uMkhonto we Sizwe (MK) party has lodged a complaint with South Africa’s Independent Electoral Commission (IEC)
With 98% of votes tallied so far, MK is falling short of winning an outright majority at a provincial level in KwaZulu-Natal.
Party spokesperson Nhlamulo Ndhlela has said the IEC numbers do not tally with numbers they have collected on the ground and are therefore demanding a manual recount of votes.
Ndhlela has appealed to MK supporters not to resort to violence.
The official election results are set to be announced on Sunday evening, an electoral official says.
Vote tallying is entering the final stages, with results already in from 98% of districts.
Mawethu Mosery, the electoral commission deputy CEO, told eNCA TV that the poll body would sit throughout the night on Saturday to deal with objections and appeals.
The governing African National Congress (ANC) is set to lose its three decades of political dominance after a stunning drop in support.
Obed Bapela, a senior member of the African National Congress (ANC), has told the BBC he does not think the election in South Africa should be regarded as a “disaster” for the party – as some pollsters have put it.
“I wouldn’t say it’s a disaster – because it is the maturity of democracy, we have seen it elsewhere in the world. After 25 years of being a leading party, the decline begins – and we have been seeing this decline,” he told the Weekend programme on the BBC World Service.
In the election in 2019 the ANC took 57% of the vote.
“However it’s a shock, I must say that we are at 40% because we thought we’d decline to around 51% – that was our prediction realising that there are new kids on the block,” Bapela said.
“It will remain a shock for a period until we sit, we engage and discuss… and we’ll accept, obviously, the results.”
The first sign of “unhappiness” with the ANC came in the 2016 local elections when the party lost in big cities and had to govern in coalitions, he said.
“Elections in South Africa today are no longer about liberation credentials, ending apartheid, it’s more about: ‘What is it for us the voters?’” said Bapela, who most recently held the position of deputy minister of public enterprises.
It was things like the lack of electricity and unemployment – both problems that started in 2008 and have become worse – that galvanised voters to come out and vote against the party, he said.
When it came to a coalition, he said there would be a meeting of the ANC’s “top seven” today to reflect on results as it was clear with 98% of results counted the party would not get 50%
“They will then discuss what will be the best model, so there are various options they are looking at.”
ANC prepares for complex coalition talks
Given the results, the ANC leadership has begun to consult internally to prepare for complex coalition talks.
The new MK party, led by former President Jacob Zuma, has said it won’t partner with the ANC as long as President Cyril Ramaphosa remains the leader. It’s in third place after cutting into the ANC’s vote share with a surprisingly strong showing.
The pro-business Democratic Alliance has come second. But there will be resistance within the ANC to its free-market agenda and its reputation as a party for the white minority.
An analyst told me that one option the ANC is considering is to issue an open invitation for talks to opposition parties.
That might lessen the internal blowback from making a clear move itself, because the DA would probably take up such an invitation, whereas the MK would not.
South Africans have voted for change after years of ANC economic mismanagement and corruption scandals. They are waiting to see if the alternative does any better.
South Africa’s president drained of his power
Will President Cyril Ramaphosa resign? That’s the question some South Africans are asking after he led the ANC to its most disastrous election result ever.
We don’t yet know the answer to that question as the president has not spoken – something he is unlikely to do until the final results are declared.
For now, what we know is this: the electorate has drained him of his power.
Hooting and celebrations in Durban for Zuma’s party
A long convoy of cars with flags of uMkhonto we Sizwe (MK), the new party headed by ex-President Jacob Zuma, was seen hooting and celebrating through Durban last night.
It is the main city of KwaZulu-Natal province, the political heartland of Mr Zuma who has dealt a blow to his former party, the African National Congress (ANC).
Not surprisingly after a night of heavy partying, all is quiet here this morning.
But with 98% of votes counted, coalition talks will be beginning.
MK has taken over from the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) as the third-largest party, completely changing South Africa’s political landscape.
But MK has said it will not partner with the ANC as long as President Cyril Ramaphosa remains the leader.
Mr Ramaphosa took over as president and leader of the ANC in 2018 after Mr Zuma was forced to resign following allegations of corruption in his presidency, which he has always denied.
Here are the latest results
With ballots now counted from 98% of voting districts, here’s how the top five parties currently stand:
These figures from the electoral commission have changed since we updated you last evening, when results from 75% of the voting districts were in.
Since then, ANC has fallen from 42% to 40%, the MK Party has edged up a little to 15% while EFF remains at 9% of the vote share.
Compiled from BBC
