By Political parties are now getting ready for negotiations to enter a coalition government following the National and Provincial Elections that failed to produce an outright winner.
The 2024 elections changed the face of politics in South Africa, for the first time since democracy the country has no outright winner in the elections ushering in a coalition government. This would mean that each party must be willing to reach a compromise and let go of some their fundamentals.
The Chairperson of the Electoral Commission (IEC) in South Africa Mr Mosotho Moepya said the 2024 elections were the most highly contest ones and the commission managed to conduct them with transparency and adherence to the highest standards of democratic practice.
The elections were not without challenges, from special votes and to the general elections day on 29 May 2024, various political parties and individuals lodged complaints about the conduct of the IEC.
“Yet, our journey was not without its challenges. It sometimes entailed concerted significant attacks on the Members and Key Staff of the Commission, attempts to undermine the credibility of this institution, relentless and targeted social media attacks, disinformation campaigns, unwarranted allegations, and sometimes, what appeared to be acts of intimidation,” said Moepya.
Despite the many challenges, after announcing the results on Sunday evening, 2 June 2024 and in accordance to section 57(3) of the Electoral Act of 1998; Moepya declared the elections free and fair.
Though predictions were that the ANC will at least reach 45 or 42 percent, however, the results showed that the Congress received 40.18% (159 seats), the DA came in second with 21.81% (87 seats) and the most surprising performance was that of the five months old MK Party coming in on third place with 14.58% (58 seats) and the EFF at fourth place with 9.52% (39).
The Provincial results were as follows:
Eastern Cape Province:
Party Support Seats
ANC 62.16% 45
DA 14.89% 11
EFF 10.14% 8
UDM 3.71% 3
PA 2.31% 2
ATM 1.55% 1
MK 1.44% 1
Free State Province
ANC 51.87% 16
DA 21.88% 7
EFF 13.52% 4
ACT 1.83% 1
MK 1.93% 1
VF Plus 3.01 1
Gauteng Province
ANC 34.76% 28
DA 27.44% 22
EFF 12.93% 11
MK 9.79% 8
ActionSA 4.16% 3
PA 2.03% 2
VF Plus 2.33% 2
ACDP 0.74% 1
BOSA 0.76% 1
IFP 0.87% 1
RiseMzansi 0.98% 1
KwaZulu Natal Province
MK 45.35% 37
IFP 18.07% 15
ANC 16.99% 14
DA 13.36% 11
EFF 2.26% 2
NFP 0.56% 1
Limpopo Province
ANC 73.3% 48
EFF 14.12% 9
DA 5.96% 4
MK 0.85% 1
UAT 0.82% 1
VF Plus 1.09% 1
Mpumalanga Province
ANC 51.15% 27
MK 16.97% 9
EFF 13.87% 7
DA 12.02% 6
ActionSA 0.5% 1
VF Plus 1.53% 1
North West Province
ANC 57.73% 23
EFF 17.37% 7
DA 13.24% 5
ActionSA 1.7% 1
MK 2.06% 1
VF Plus 2.6% 1
Northern Cape Province
ANC 49.34% 15
DA 21.19% 7
EFF 13.25% 4
PA 8.64% 3
VF Plus 1.83% 1
Western Cape Province
DA 55.3% 24
ANC 19.55% 8
PA 7.8% 3
EFF 5.3% 2
ACDP 1.29% 1
Aljama 1.3% 1
GOOD 1.13% 1
NCC 2.38% 1
VF Plus 1.45% 1
