With just over a fifth of voting districts tallied, South Africa’s Election Commission count has put African National Congress’ Cyril Ramaphosa ahead, with its closest rival the Democratic Alliance trailing at a distant 26 percent.
Ramaphosa, 66, took over last year after the African National Congress (ANC) forced then-president Jacob Zuma to resign after nine years dominated by corruption allegations and economic problems.
The party that wins the most seats in parliament selects the country’s president, who will be sworn in on May 25.
Support for the ANC has fallen in every election since 2004 with the party taking 54 percent in 2016 municipal elections, compared with 62 percent in 2014’s national vote.
Nelson Mandela and the African National Congress (ANC) were swept to power with a landslide in the country’s first multi-racial polls that marked the end of apartheid in 1994.
Most opinion surveys suggest the ANC will secure nearly 60 percent of the vote, thanks to Ramaphosa’s appeal and a fractured opposition.
Of the 47 opposition parties in the race, only the main opposition centrist DA and the radical-left Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) are major players.
The DA is hoping to shed its image as a white, middle-class party.Its first black leader, Mmusi Maimane, is contesting his maiden general election since taking the helm in 2015, and is expected to make modest gains on the DA’s 2014 vote share of 22 percent.
The EFF, founded six years ago by former ANC youth leader Julius Malema, is predicted to make major gains, growing from 6.3 percent to a forecast 11 percent. The partial results show it at eight percent.