South Africa Counts Votes, With ANC In the Lead

Following yesterday’s elections South African officials have begun counting ballot papers, with early indacitors suggesting an ANC victory.

The elections for a new parliament and 9 provincial legislatures, will be the first big test for Cyril Ramaphosa who replaced disgraces former President Jacob Zuma.  

Ramaphosa needed to secure a convincing victory in order to arrest a slide in support for the ANC and his leadership.

Opinion polls suggest that the ANC will win a majority, but analysts say their margin of victory will be slimmer than expected, falling from the 62% of the vote it secured in the last election.

There are increasing frustrations with slow progress over addressing racial and wealth disparities and an perceived lack of progress on prosecuting those involved in the state capture scandal.

Results from some smaller voting districts started to trickle in on Thursday morning. As of 0330 GMT, more than 1.3 million votes had been processed out of around 26.8 million registered voters.

The full tally may not be known until Saturday