South Africa’s ANC takes lead in first results

PRETORIA: South Africa’s ANC was leading according to early official results on Thursday following the first electoral test of whether President Cyril Ramaphosa has reinvigorated support for the ruling party.

###

With just over a fifth of districts tallied after Wednesday’s vote, the African National Congress was ahead, with its closest rival the Democratic Alliance trailing at a distant 26 per cent, results released by the electoral commission showed.

###

The Economic Freedom Fighters, founded six years ago by former ANC youth leader Julius Malema, was sitting at eight per cent.

###

Ramaphosa, 66, took over last year after the African National Congress (ANC) forced then-president Jacob Zuma to resign after nine years dominated by corruption allegations and economic problems.

###

The party that wins the most seats in parliament selects the country’s president, who will be sworn in on May 25.

###

The ANC’s reputation was badly sullied under Zuma.

###

Support for the ANC has fallen in every election since 2004 with the party taking 54 percent in 2016 municipal elections, compared with 62 percent in 2014’s national vote.

###

Nelson Mandela and the African National Congress (ANC) were swept to power with a landslide in the country’s first multi-racial polls that marked the end of apartheid in 1994.

###

Most opinion surveys suggest the ANC will secure nearly 60 percent of the vote, thanks to Ramaphosa’s appeal and a fractured opposition.

Click Here: ###

AFP