PHOTO: ANC leading with 501,760 votes as DA comes second with 309 108 votes as 12.85% of the vote count completed in South Africa presidential election

Information reaching Kossyderrickent has it that ANC leading with 501,760 votes as DA comes second with 309 108 votes as 12.85% of the vote count completed in South Africa presidential election.

President Cyril Ramaphosa hopes the May 29 ballot will lead to his reelection. But if the ANC does lose its majority, it will force it into a coalition to form a government — also a first for the country and something that may complicate policymaking in Africa’s most advanced economy.

“Here we have again in 2024, in the middle of an election season, this MK (Jacob Zuma’s party) breakaway. And I think that has put the ANC under a lot more pressure, because it’s a lot harder for them to know exactly where the chips will fall,” said political analyst Tessa Dooms.

Ramaphosa was a senior figure in the ANC in the early 1990s and was once seen as a protege of Mandela. He left politics to become a successful businessman before returning as deputy president of South Africa in 2014. He became president in 2018 after Jacob Zuma resigned under a cloud of corruption allegations.

Ramaphosa has tried to rebuild the reputation of the ANC by cracking down on government graft. However, unemployment has risen to 32% during his presidency — the highest in the world — while he has struggled to curb poverty.