12 May 2014
The African National Congress (ANC) has been officially declared the winner of South Africa’s 2014 general election, after securing 62.15% of the national vote in last Wednesday’s poll.
Announcing the results in Pretoria on Saturday evening, the Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) said the ANC had received 11 436 921 votes, which translates into 249 seats in the country’s National Assembly.
The party remains in control in eight of the country’s provinces, with the exception of the Western Cape, which stays under the Democratic Alliance (DA), which secured 59.38% of the provincial vote.
The DA increased its support nationally to 22.23% (4 091 584 votes), giving it 89 seats in the National Assembly.
Newcomers the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) emerged as the third most popular party after the ANC and DA, with 6.35% of the vote. The party, which was formed only eight months ago, received more than one-million votes in the national ballot, earning 25 seats in Parliament.
It has also become the official opposition in North West and Limpopo provinces.
IEC chairperson Pansy Tlakula said she was satisfied with how the elections were conducted. “I hereby, on behalf of the Electoral Commission, declare the 2014 national and provincial elections free and fair,” she said.
Other parties in Parliament
Of the 29 parties that contested the elections, only 13 received sufficient votes to gain representation in Parliament.
The Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP) received the fourth-highest number of votes with 2.4% (441 854 votes).
Its breakaway party, the National Freedom Party (NFP), came in fifth with 1.57% (288 742 votes). This was the first time the NFP had contested a national election.
The United Democratic Movement (UDM) increased its support from 0.85% in 2009 to 1% (184 636 votes), with the sixth-highest share of votes.
The Freedom Front Plus improved its support from 0.83% in 2009 to 0.9% (165 715 votes), while the African Christian Democratic Party received 0.57% of the vote (104 039 votes).
The Congress of the People received 0.67% (123 221 votes) this time around. Agang SA got 0.28% (52 334 votes) of the national vote.
A total of 251 957 votes were spoilt nationally, up from 239 237 in the last poll, while over 18-million of people (73.42% of those eligible to vote) participated in the election.
“As we celebrate two decades of democracy and conclude the 2014 elections, we can affirm democracy is alive and well and thriving in our land,’ Tlakula said.
IEC vice-chair Terry Tselane said the elections had demonstrated the same spirit the country had in 1994, something he said the nation should be proud of.
Both the African Union (AU) and Southern African Development Community (SADC) observer missions congratulated South Africa on a free, fair, transparent and credible election.
Source: SAnews.gov.za
