US NewsANC wins South African election despite worst result in its history

© Getty Cyril Ramaphosa has won another five years in office

The African National Congress has won the South African election, despite its worst-ever result.

The victory gives President Cyril Ramaphosa another five years in office but the party's poor showing will make it difficult for him to fight rivals.

After the ANC was declared the winner, he said: "Let us now work together, black and white, men and women, young and old to build a South Africa that truly belongs to all that live in it."

© Getty The radical far-left Economic Freedom Fighters were one of few parties to see gains

But many of those men and women punished his party for failures to address corruption, unemployment and racial inequality.

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The 2019 South African general election was held on 8 May 2019 to elect a new National Assembly and provincial legislatures in each province. These were the sixth elections held since the end of apartheid in 1994 and determined who would become the next President of South Africa .

South Africa 's African National Congress ( ANC ) won reelection on Saturday with all votes counted, according to the electoral commission. The party has ruled South Africa since the end of apartheid in 1994. Despite a string of corruption scandals and low turnout, the ANC , led by incumbent President

Despite being Africa's most advanced economy, South Africa is one of the world's most unequal societies, according to the World Bank.

The ANC's 57.5% share of the vote was its worst-ever election performance since South Africa's first free election marked the end of white minority rule in 1994.

It will hold 230 of the 400 seats in the country's parliament, which is decided based on a system of proportional representation. This is fewer than the 249 it had going into the election.

ANC chairman Gwede Mantashe said they had improved since the 54% they won in the 2016 local government poll and were "picking up from that disaster".

The main opposition, the liberal Democratic Alliance, also lost seats - going from 89 to 84 - but communications director Mabine Seabe said this was "a positive result", adding: "We've grown in communities we've never grown before."

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Mike Hutchings/Reuters. South Africa ’s former liberation movement, the African National Congress , has fallen to its worst national election result since With two-thirds of votes counted, the ANC had won about 57 per cent in this week’s election , its lowest total ever in a national election , as South

South Africa 's governing African National Congress ( ANC ) looks to be facing its biggest electoral setback since the end of apartheid, after the partial results of municipal elections . With 85% of the votes in, the ANC trails its main rival, the Democratic Alliance, in the cities of Port Elizabeth and Cape

Gains were seen by the radical far-left Economic Freedom Fighters, however, which moved from 19 seats to 44.

Voter turnout was just 65%, down from the 74% seen five years ago.

International observers said the elections were free and fair, although some of the smaller parties have alleged irregularities.

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