The ruling African National Congress, ANC which has been in power since South Africa became a democracy, has cruised to victory in the country's presidential and parliamentary elections, albeit with diminished support due to government corruption.

The ANC, led by President Cyril Ramaphosa, received 57 percent of the vote on Wednesday, according to the electoral commission.

Recalled that In 2014, the party received 62 percent.

The election victory will be perceived as a mandate for Ramaphosa to work to eradicate corruption that has plagued the government and the party, which has been governing the country since the fall of the apartheid system.

 “After he voted in Soweto, Ramaphosa pledged to root out corruption,” Mthombothi added. “He will have to deliver decisively on those words.”

But while the ANC won the election by a large margin, 35 smaller parties jointly filed a complaint with the electoral commission complaining of irregularities and say an audit of the vote must be conducted, possibly even leading to a rerun of the election.

According to News24, the largest opposition party, Democratic Alliance, DA, received 21 percent of the vote, also slightly less than it got five years ago.

“Even though we’ve lost a few votes, we’ve held the center of South Africa politics,” Mmusi Maimane, the DA party leader. “We will work to regain those votes because we are the party for all South Africans of whatever race.”

The populist left-wing Economic Freedom Fighters, meanwhile, increased its share of the vote from 6 percent to 10 percent.

The biggest loser of the elections appears to be voter turnout, which declined by 9 percent. About two-thirds of people participated in the election compared to nearly three-quarters of people last time.

The current results aren’t yet final as voting tallies from remote areas in South Africa haven’t been counted.

The final results report says are likely to be announced by Saturday.