Preliminary results from South Africa's most intense election since the end of apartheid began to emerge on Thursday. Due to the high voter turnout, many polling stations had long queues waiting to vote until late at night.
The voting on Wednesday could mark a turning point in the country's politics, as polls suggest that the African National Congress (ANC) may lose its majority for the first time in 30 years, meaning it will need to form a coalition with one or more smaller parties to govern the country.
Since South Africa's historic election in 1994, the ANC, under the leadership of Nelson Mandela, has won every national election held every five years. However, dissatisfaction with high unemployment, crime, frequent power outages, and corruption has led to a decline in its support.
Voters are electing provincial legislatures in the country's nine provinces and selecting a new national parliament, which will subsequently elect the next president.
This time, the ANC is still expected to receive the most votes, meaning its leader, current President Cyril Ramaphosa, is likely to remain in office.
As of 0500 GMT on Thursday, the Electoral Commission had processed less than 1% of the results from over 23,000 polling stations.
Based on this preliminary count, the ANC's vote share is about 54%, the largest opposition party, the Democratic Alliance, is in second place with around 20%, and the radical left Economic Freedom Fighters are third with about 8%. Former President Jacob Zuma's new party, "uMkhonto we Sizwe," is fourth with around 5%.
Analysts suggest they can start making useful predictions once 5% of the polling station results are released.
The chairman of the Electoral Commission told reporters at a results center in Midrand, north of Johannesburg, on Wednesday that voter turnout might be higher than in 2019, when 66% of registered voters cast their ballots.
This year, over 27 million people have registered to vote.
According to the law, the Electoral Commission has seven days to release the full preliminary results, but election officials said they plan to announce the results by Sunday.
