South Africa's ANC facing coalition as election ends decades of dominance

A general view shows the result board at the National Results Operation Centre of the Electoral Commission of South Africa (IEC), which serves as an operational hub where results of the national election are displayed, in Midrand, South Africa, May 31, 2024. REUTERS/Alet Pretorius

JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) -South Africans angry at joblessness, inequality and power shortages slashed support for the African National Congress (ANC) to 40% in this week's election, ending three decades of dominance by the party that freed the country from apartheid.

A dramatically weakened mandate for the legacy party of Nelson Mandela, down from the 57.5% it garnered in the 2019 parliamentary election, means the ANC must share power with a rival in order to keep it - an unprecedented prospect.