For Creamer Media in Johannesburg, I’m Lumkile Nkomfe.

Making headlines: Top ANC official backs Ramaphosa despite dismal election result; DA celebrates growth in electoral support; And, Ex-leader Zuma's populist party becomes top disrupter in South Africa vote

Top ANC official backs Ramaphosa despite dismal election result

A top official in South Africa's African National Congress backed President Cyril Ramaphosa despite a dismal result in this week's parliamentary election, saying he should still be the party leader and would not have to resign.

With just over 60% of votes counted, the vote share for the ANC - the party that has governed South Africa since the end of apartheid in 1994 - was just under 42%, heading for its worst result in 30 years and the first time the party was on course to lose its parliamentary majority.

Nomvula Mokonyane, first deputy secretary-general of the ANC, told reporters at the election results centre: "Nobody is going to resign ... collectively all of us we still are confident that he (Ramaphosa) has to remain the president of the ANC".

Mokonyane said for the party is not talking to any smaller party about coalition possibilities.

With more than half of voting districts now declared, the Democratic Alliance celebrated the fact that it is the only party represented in the National Assembly that has registered growth, with all other existing parties registering a decline.

DA celebrates growth in electoral support

The DA is currently standing at 23.7%, while the ruling African National Congress stood at 42.1% of the vote with results in from over half of polling stations, by far its worst result since 1994.

A new party led by former president Jacob Zuma, the uMkhonto we Sizwe Party stood on 10.8%, overtaking the Economic Freedom Fighters, who stood at 9.6%.

DA leader John Steenhuisen said the DA was now “unquestionably” back to a growth path, after growing in the 2021 local government elections and now the 2024 national and provincial elections, consecutively.

He noted that the DA had registered significant growth in the Free State, Mpumalanga, Limpopo, the North West, and elsewhere.

And, Ex-leader Zuma's populist party becomes top disrupter in South Africa vote

The biggest winner in South Africa's election this week may be former President Jacob Zuma, whose newly formed uMkhonto we Sizwe Party has exceeded expectations and emerged as a major factor in the African National Congress' sharp drop in support.

MK is not going to win the election and is unlikely to be a coalition partner, analysts say, while Zuma is barred from standing for Parliament because of a conviction for contempt of court.

But the party, which advocates nationalising land and banks and scrapping the Constitution, is on course to unseat the ANC by a landslide in the populous province of KwaZulu-Natal, Zuma's home region.

With results from over 60% of polling stations in, MK was in third place this morning with 11.8% of votes. The ANC had 41.9%, down from 57.5% in the last 2019 election, looking set to lose its majority for the first time in 30 years.

In KwaZulu-Natal - strategically significant owing to the main ports of Durban and Richard's Bay - MK was leading with about 44% to the ANC's just under 19%. Durban handles around 60% of trade to and from South Africa while Richard's Bay is the largest coal export facility in Africa.

Political analysts attributed MK's success largely to Zuma's popularity, which is rooted in his humble roots and anti-establishment stance.

That’s a roundup of news making headlines today

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