President Cyril Ramaphosa’s ANC will retain its parliamentary majority after polls but with diminished support, complicating efforts to revive the embattled party and the country’s flagging economy, results have shown.

ANC, in power since 1994, surged into the lead with nearly 57% after almost 70% of the votes were officially tallied following Wednesday’s vote.

By 22:25 on Thursday evening, 67.54% of the votes had been captured, with the ANC building a healthy lead over its competitors, having amassed 56.76% of the vote.

Ramaphosa (66) took over as the leader of the ANC last year after the party forced then-president Jacob Zuma to resign after nine years dominated by corruption allegations and economic problems.

Mmusi Maimane, leader of the the main opposition centrist Democratic Alliance (DA) party, shares his concerns over reports that many South African citizens were able to vote more than once in Wednesday’s general elections.

Results released by the Electoral Commission of SA (IEC) showed the ANC’s closest rival, the main opposition Democratic Alliance (DA) trailing with 22.38% of the vote, similar to their final figure in the 2014 elections, where they gained 22.23% of the electorate.

The Economic Freedom Fighters, founded six years ago by former ANC youth leader Julius Malema, was in third place standing on 9.89% or just over one million votes nationwide on Thursday night.

Final results are expected to be officially certified today. A new projection by South Africa’s respected Council for Scientific and Industrial Research forecast the ANC would win with 57% – a five percentage point drop from the last election in 2014.
Jessie Duarte, the ANC deputy secretary general, said the partial results were neither a “disappointment” nor a “surprise”.

“What I think is important to recognise is the deepening of our democracy,” she said at the IEC in Pretoria.AP