ONLINE
\nPRETORIA
\nSouth Africa\u2019s ANC surged into the lead in early official results Thursday with 55 percent of the vote in the first electoral test of President Cyril Ramaphosa\u2019s bid to reinvigorate the ruling party.
\nWith just over a fifth of voting districts tallied, the Election Commission put the African National Congress well ahead, with its closest rival the Democratic Alliance trailing with a distant 26 percent.
\nThe Economic Freedom Fighters, founded six years ago by former ANC youth leader Julius Malema, was sitting at eight percent
\nRamaphosa, 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.
\nThe party that wins the most seats in parliament selects the country\u2019s president, who will be sworn in on May 25.
\n\u201cThe outcome of this election will be a major boost for investors… and investor confidence, it\u2019s about confidence and about the future,\u201d Ramaphosa said after voting on Wednesday.
\nThe ANC\u2019s reputation was badly sullied under Zuma.
\n\u201cWe apologise for our mistakes.\u201d
\nSupport 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\u2019s national vote.
\nNelson Mandela and the African National Congress (ANC) were swept to power with a landslide in the country\u2019s first multi-racial polls that marked the end of apartheid in 1994.
\nMost opinion surveys suggest the ANC will secure nearly 60 percent of the vote, thanks to Ramaphosa\u2019s appeal and a fractured opposition.
\nDirk Coetzee, a professor at UNISA\u2019s political science department, said \u201cthe higher the percentage for the ANC, the more it will give him (Ramaphosa) bargaining power\u201d.
\n\u201cIf Ramaphosa gets below 50 percent he will be very vulnerable\u201d to challenges from rivals within the ANC, he added.
\nThe ANC has been confronted by deepening public anger over its failure to tackle poverty and inequality in post-apartheid South Africa.
\n\u201cWe have given them 25 years but the poor are getting poorer and the rich richer,\u201d said voter Anmareth Preece, 28, a teacher from Coligny in North West province. \u201cWe need a government that governs for the people, not for themselves.\u201d
\nThe economy grew just 0.8 percent in 2018 and unemployment hovers around 27 percent — soaring to over 50 percent among young people.
\nOf the 47 opposition parties in the race, only the main opposition centrist DA and the radical-left EFF are major players.
\nThe DA is hoping to shed its image as a white, middle-class party.
\nIts first black leader, Mmusi Maimane, is contesting his maiden general election since taking the helm in 2015, and is expected to make modest gains on the DA\u2019s 2014 vote share of 22 percent.
\nMalema\u2019s EFF was predicted to make major gains, growing from 6.3 percent to a forecast 11 percent. The partial results show it at eight percent.
\n\u201cThe ANC has taken people for granted. There is some arrogance which has crept in,\u201d said voter Mandla Booi, 45, in Port Elizabeth on the south coast.
\nThe EFF, which appeals mainly to young voters and the poor, has campaigned on a policy of seizing land from white owners to give to blacks.
\nEnforced land redistribution is also ANC policy — alarming some investors.
\nAbout 26.8 million voters were registered to cast their ballots at 22,925 polling stations countrywide. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
ONLINE PRETORIA South Africa\u2019s ANC surged into the lead in early official results Thursday with 55 percent of the vote in the first electoral test of President Cyril Ramaphosa\u2019s bid to reinvigorate the ruling party. With just over a fifth of voting districts tallied, the Election Commission put the African National Congress well ahead, with […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":63387,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-63365","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-world"],"yoast_head":"\n