South Africa heads for ‘coalition country’ as partial election results put ruling ANC well below 50%

By MOGOMOTSI MAGOME and GERALD IMRAY
Associated Press

JOHANNESBURG (AP) — South Africa is heading closer to the reality of a national coalition government for the first time as partial election results put the ruling African Nation Congress well short of a majority. With more than 65% of votes counted across the country’s nine provinces on Friday, the ANC has received just under 42% of the national vote, according to the official results. That represents a huge drop from the 57.5% it received in the last national election in 2019, although final results from Wednesday’s election have not yet been declared. Election officials say they will be announced by Sunday, although they could come sooner.