ANC in trouble in Gauteng as support falls below 50%

The ANC in Gauteng on Friday morning saw its electoral support in the country's economic hub dropping to below the 50% mark after just under 60% of the provincial votes had been counted.

This is the first time the party has dropped below 50% since the votes were cast on Wednesday.

The drop may spell trouble for the party in Gauteng where opposition parties have campaigned hard to push its support to below 50% to force a coalition government in an attempt to oust the ANC from power.

With 58.6% of votes counted just after 10am on Friday, the ANC stood at 49.6%.

Gauteng has seen the slowest vote count around the country.

ANC support in Gauteng has been on the decline since 2004, dropping from 68% that year to 53% in 2014.

During the local government elections in 2016 it lost control of two key metros, Johannesburg and Tshwane.

But two of the strongest opposition parties, the DA and EFF, at this stage have not yet garnered enough support to form a coalition government to sideline the ANC.

The EFF currently stands at 13.9% while the DA only scored 28.3%, which is less than the 30.7% they managed in 2014.