S Africa heads for coalition as ANC support plunges

CAPE TOWN, May 31 (Reuters): South African political parties geared up for coalition talks on Friday as the governing African National Congress (ANC) looked set to fall well short of a majority in this week's election, the first time this has happened in 30 years of democracy.
With results in from 54.9 per cent of polling stations, the party of the late Nelson Mandela had 42.1 per cent of votes, a precipitous drop from the 57.5 per cent of votes it secured in the last national election in 2019.
While the ANC looked likely to remain the largest political force, voters appear to have punished the former liberation movement for years of decline.
The ANC had won every previous national election since the historic 1994 vote that ended white minority rule, but over the last decade South Africans have watched the economy stagnate, unemployment and poverty climb and infrastructure crumble, leading to regular power outages.
Projections by South Africa's Council for Scientific and Industrial Research indicated the ANC would get 40.5 per cent when full results are in.
So far the pro-business Democratic Alliance (DA) was in second place at 23.7 per cent. uMkhonto we Sizwe (MK), a new party led by former president Jacob Zuma, was at 10.8 per cent and eating into ANC support, particularly in KwaZulu-Natal, Zuma's home province.