ANC IN EARLY LEAD

Votes are being counted in South Africa's general election, with President Cyril Ramaphosa hoping to prevent a slide in support for the governing African National Congress.

With results declared in some 34% of districts, the ANC has won about 56% of the ballot, well ahead of the opposition Democratic Alliance on 25%.

The governing party took 62% at the last election in 2014. Anger over the economy and corruption may have eroded its appeal.

The radical Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF), is in third place with 9%, based on the official early results.

Provincial results are also being highly anticipated, particularly in Gauteng, where the opposition is hoping to make inroads.

If the ANC vote drops below 50% it could lose control of the biggest, richest province to an opposition alliance, reports the BBC Andrew Harding in Johannesburg.

The ANC currently controls eight of South Africa's nine provinces.

The ANC is projected to win 57.3% of the national vote and will drop below 50% in Gauteng, the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) said on Thursday, based on voting trends thus far.

The government scientific research body has projected the end result accurately at a very early stage in the counting, in the past.

According to its model, the DA will win 21.6% of the vote and the EFF 9.5%. Both the ANC and the DA are set to get a lower proportion of the vote than in the 2014 election in which the ANC won 62.1% and the DA 22.1%. The EFF will grow to 9.5% from 6.35% in 2014, and will probably show the strongest growth of any party.

The ANC's push to regain the Western Cape looks to have failed as the DA enjoys 56% support with more than 60% of voting districts declared.

While the governing party failed to convince the coloured vote in the Western Cape, the DA also failed to get the Northen Cape, one of its targets.

The Northern Cape was one of the two provinces the DA was aiming to snatch from the ANC, the other being Gauteng.

In Gauteng, with a quarter of voting districts declared, the ANC is on 51% with the DA on 26% and the EFF on 13% in the country's much sought-after economic hub.

However, with more than 83% of voting districts declared in the Northern Cape, the ANC had amassed 55% of the votes. The DA looks set to be the official opposition with 27% while the Red Berets are on 8.5%.

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