ANC Loses Its Outright Majority in South Africa’s Northern Cape

(Bloomberg) -- South Africa’s ruling party lost its outright majority in the Northern Cape province for the first time since the nation’s democratic era started in 1994 and will have to enter a coalition with another organization to govern the region.

Most Read from Bloomberg

• Wall Street Billionaires Are Rushing to Back Trump, Verdict Be Damned

• Trump Is Guilty on All Counts in Hush-Money Case. Now What?

• Here Are the Latest Verified Results From South Africa’s Election

• Donald Trump Becomes First Former US President Guilty of Crimes

• Fed’s Favored Inflation Gauge Cools, Spending Unexpectedly Drops

The African National Congress obtained 49.34% of votes in the May 29 election compared with 57.5% in 2019, according to the Electoral Commission of South Africa’s tally.

Sign up here for the twice-weekly Next Africa newsletter

The Northern Cape, the first of South Africa’s nine provinces to complete the vote count, has the smallest population of registered voters at about 656,000. Provincial turnout in this election fell to 61% from 64% in 2019.

The Democratic Alliance got 21.19% of votes, less support than five years earlier, while the Economic Freedom Fighters’ 13.25% was almost identical to its performance then. The Patriotic Alliance — founded by Gayton McKenzie, a reformed criminal turned businessman in 2013 — got 8.64%. The organization has made inroads in mixed-race and rural areas.

The latest results from Wednesday’s election show the ANC hemorrhaging support in Gauteng and KwaZulu-Natal, the two most-populous provinces. An extrapolation of the tallies by a state research body suggests it will win just 41% of the national vote. Backing for the party has also slumped in the north-eastern Mpumalanga province.

You can follow Bloomberg’s reporting on Africa on WhatsApp. Sign up here.

Most Read from Bloomberg Businessweek

• Yes, Walmart Store Managers Really Can Make $500,000 a Year

• Disney Is Banking On Sequels to Help Get Pixar Back on Track

• US Malls Avoid Death Spiral With Help of Japanese Video Arcades

• Israel Seeks Underground Secrets by Tracking Cosmic Particles

• How Rage, Boredom and WallStreetBets Created a New Generation of Young American Traders

©2024 Bloomberg L.P.