The ANC’s total supremacy in South Africa is over. Now a healthier future can begin | Alexis Akwagyiram

After years of scandal and poor governance, the people are right to want checks and balances, and new voices

The results are in, and the message is stark: the ruling African National Congress (ANC) has been humbled in the country's general election. South Africa is going through the biggest shift in its political landscape since the end of apartheid 30 years ago.

Counting of Wednesday's poll shows that the party has fallen below the 50% required for a parliamentary majority for the first time since the end of minority white rule in 1994. It must now share power for the first time. And its political leaders will have to suffer the ignominy of scrambling to forge a coalition with their opponents.