JOHANNESBURG: South Africa’s ruling African National Congress (ANC) won 159 out of 400 seats in the country’s National Assembly after last week’s general election, the electoral commission said on Sunday.
The results showed the ANC had lost its outright majority in parliament for the first time since it came to power after the end of apartheid and white minority rule 30 years ago. In the previous election in 2019, the party had won 230 seats.
ANC’s main challenger, the pro-business, white-led Democratic Alliance, came second with 87 seats.
A new party, uMkhonto we Sizwe (MK) – “spear of the nation” in the Zulu language, backed by former president Jacob Zuma, won 58 seats, while the radical left Economic Freedom Fighters, came fourth with 39 seats.
The ANC has said it was open to talk to all political parties to form a coalition government following the election.