South Africa’s ruling ANC concedes defeat in key town

South Africa’s ruling African National Congress (ANC) party has conceded defeat in municipal elections in a key industrial town in the country’s south.

Partial results showed on Friday that the main opposition party, Democratic Alliance (DA), was leading ANC with six percentage points in the industrial city of Port Elizabeth.

“We accept that we have lost,” said the ANC whip in the parliament, Jackson Mthembu, on Friday. “We know it’s a tight race but I can assure you that we will emerge victorious in Tshwane (Pretoria), we will emerge victorious in Johannesburg.”

The DA won 47 percent of the votes in Port Elizabeth, but it has not yet secured an outright majority and will have to build a coalition with smaller parties.

The two parties are also in a tight race in Johannesburg and Pretoria.

The ANC has ruled the country since the end of apartheid regime and the country’s first democratic elections in 1994. It controls almost two-thirds of the parliament.

Many ANC supporters have been switching sides to the DA, which has traditionally had the support of white and colored (mixed-race) South Africans.

According to analysts, the opposition party has eventually managed to be gaining support among the country’s black majority.

The DA’s move upward in its share of votes comes against the backdrop of nationwide anger over high unemployment and a lack of basic services in the country.

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