Former South African president urges electoral authority not to declare election outcome as dozens of parties dispute results

By Hassan Isilow

Former South African President Jacob Zuma night urged the Electoral Commission on Saturday not to declare Wednesday's election results as yet as more than two dozen political parties have disputed the outcome.

“We are going to need time, nobody should declare results tomorrow (Sunday). I am hoping whoever is responsible is hearing what we are saying. Don’t start trouble where there is no trouble,” Zuma told reporters.

South Africans on Wednesday voted to elect national and provincial lawmakers in one of the most tightly contested races since 1994, which saw the first post-apartheid democratic elections.

Zuma, 82, who leads the five-month-old uMkhonto weSizwe party, which took the number three position in the elections with 14.60% of the vote, said there were many election irregularities reported.

He claimed that when aggrieved political parties complained about electoral irregularities and approached the Electoral Commission, they were given just a few minutes to speak before they were told there was insufficient time.

Zuma called on the Commission to give the 26 aggrieved political parties a chance to present their claims of electoral irregularities before rushing to declare results.

He said some parties got fewer votes than their membership and support base and called for a recount.

“This is the first time since our freedom that we’re having these problems,” he said.

The Electoral Commission completed vote-counting Saturday and is due to announce results Sunday. The body said shortly after Zuma's call that it would declare the results Sunday evening.

The African National Congress, which has ruled South Africa for 30 years, received 40.21% of the vote, a sharp drop from the 57.5% it got in the last national election in 2019.

The official opposition Democratic Alliance got 21.80% of the vote, maintaining its support, followed by the uMkhonto weSizwe party, which garnered 14.60%, pushing the Economic Freedom Fighters to the number four position with 9.48% of the vote.

There were more than 27 million registered voters in the country of some 62 million people, and 70 political parties contesting the elections, but voter turnout was only 58.59%.

This is the first time the ANC got less than 50% of the vote. It used to secure more than 60% in all elections since 1994, except in 2019, when its share dipped to 57.5%.

South Africans voted for lawmakers of provincial legislatures and 400 members of parliament, known as the National Assembly.

The voting is on a party basis and the parties get seats in parliament.

The lawmakers then elect the president, which means that the party that wins the election gets the ultimate power in the country.