The EFF is inspired by its growth as ballot counting wraps up and so far, it has bagged more than 1.2 million votes nationally.

Visiting the Electoral Commission of SA's (IEC) results operations centre in Tshwane, Gauteng on Thursday evening, EFF deputy president Floyd Shivambu told journalists that the party was the only one which showed significant growth.

"We are happy with the performance of the EFF," he said, adding that the party's growth was inspiring.

"We are the only party that has significantly grown in terms of actual numbers. This shows the confidence that the people of South Africa have in the EFF."

He projected that the party would grow its portion of the electorate by 70% and added that the DA and ANC were struggling to expand and had become stagnant.

However, he pointed out that the race was not over because the big metros still had to complete counting.

In these metros, the ANC will be under threat, Shivambu said, adding that the red berets were notoriously known for its unfriendly demeanour toward the governing party.

In 2014, the EFF contested its first election, gaining 6.35% or 1 169 259 of the total vote.

Source: News24