JOHANNESBURG, June 1 (Xinhua) -- South Africa's ruling African National Congress (ANC) has secured about 40 percent of votes as over 99 percent of ballot counting completed in the country's general elections, the Independent Electoral Commission's (IEC) results showed on Saturday.

Millions of people went to the polls on Wednesday in what was anticipated to be the country's most fiercely contested election since the end of apartheid in 1994.

According to the IEC results dashboard, as of 2:00 p.m. local time on Saturday, votes from 23,096, or 99.16 percent, of 23,292 voting districts had been counted and captured. The ANC took the lead nationally, with 6,344,057 votes representing 40.25 percent.

However, for the first time, the ruling party fell below the 50 percent needed to maintain its dominance in the National Assembly, which would then select the president by a simple majority. Enditem

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