ANC to lead S Africa govt with diminished majority

South Africa’s ruling ANC yesterday geared for its sixth straight term in power in the post-apartheid era but its worst ever electoral showing could hamper efforts to revive the flagging economy and fight graft.

Provisional results, due to be confirmed later yesterday, show that voters on Wednesday gave the ANC its smallest mandate since 1994, when Nelson Mandela led it to victory in the first multi-racial polls.

The party has been battling corruption scandals, sluggish economic growth and record unemployment -- all issues its new leader, President Cyril Ramaphosa has promised to tackle.

Businessman Ramaphosa, 66, took over last year when the ANC compelled then-president Jacob Zuma to resign after nine years dominated by graft allegations and economic decline.

Official results showed the African National Congress (ANC) holding a comfortable lead with 57.5 percent -- a huge dip from almost 70 percent in 2004 and 62 percent in 2014.

Its closest rival, the main opposition Democratic Alliance (DA), trailed at a distant 20.78 percent.

The radical left Economic Freedom Fighters, founded six years ago by former ANC youth leader Julius Malema, was in third place with 10.79 percent -- up four percentage points on 2014.

Seats in parliament are allocated based on vote share and the party with the most representatives selects the president, who will be sworn in on May 25.

The electoral commission is due to officially declare the results around 1600 GMT.