South Africa's ANC retains power by winning majority in national election

The ruling African National Congress (ANC) party won the majority of parliamentary seats with a 57.5 per cent share in this week's South African vote, the electoral commission said on Saturday.

The ANC's victory secures it enough seats to give President Cyril Ramaphosa another five years in office, but the party was punished by voters for faltering efforts to address corruption, unemployment and racial disparities in housing, services and land distribution.

The ANC's seats in the 400-member parliament fell to 230 from 249. The main opposition Democratic Alliance also saw its number of seats fall to 84 from 89, while the leftist Economic Freedom Fighters gained 19 seats to 44.