As voters have chosen the ruling African National Congress (ANC) in South Africa's national election, they cast their hope on its president Cyril Ramaphosa to fix the ailing economy and root out corruption, according to experts after Wednesday's elections.

While the ANC would return to parliament as a major party, its seats have been reduced by 19 to 230. It is the first time that the ANC support has been reduced to below 60 percent since 1994 when it first came to power.

The Democratic Alliance, the official opposition which received over 20 percent of the vote, had its seats reduced to 84 from 89. Only the Economic Freedom Fighters grew from 25 to 44 seats.

Jannie Rossouw, Head of School of Economic and Business Sciences at the University of the Witwatersrand, told Xinhua that voters want Ramaphosa to act tough on corruption and reduce government costs.

"Voters have given Ramaphosa a chance. They want to see decisive actions on corruption. They want him to deal with corrupt senior ANC members," he said.

Rossouw said reviving the economy and creating jobs are important to voters.

"They want him to deal with economic growth, create policy certainty as that would result in job creation," he said, adding that Ramaphosa is expected to reduce the size of his cabinet.

Dr. Somadoda Fikeni of the University of South Africa believed that the results have ensured that there is "stability to investors."

"The ANC needs to move with speed on the economic front because the cry is about inequality, poverty and unemployment." Fikeni told Xinhua.

Fikeni said the challenges that Ramaphosa have to deal with is acting against senior party members who have been implicated in corruption scandals.

"Unity of the party and acting against members allegedly involved in corruption would be a balancing act," he said. 

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