South African elections results released

Results from South Africa’s national elections will be released today.

Preliminary results have indicated that the African National Congress (ANC) will garner less than 50% of the vote, forcing them to form a coalition government with another party.

The three biggest parties in the election after the ANC are the Democratic Alliance (DA), the uMkhonto weSizwe (MK), and the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF). The differences in ideologies and policies between these parties will make it difficult for the ANC to form a coalition.

The DA is expected to finish second in the election, but its predominantly white leadership and opposition to some government led racial equity policies has caused it to

The ANC will have to make major policy concessions to whoever they partner with, which could result in an unstable South African government split along ideological lines. This would likely exacerbate other problems in South Africa like slow economic growth and high unemployment rates.