Wake-up call for the ANC

Winning an election with more than 50 percent of the vote would have the leaders of almost every European political party dancing on the table.

But not South Africa's ANC. Rather, the results of these elections will send shivers down the spines of the party's top brass.

Nelson Mandela's heirs are used to higher scores. This result is the worst for the party since it first contested an election in 1994.

And it's not just the national result. The proud liberation movement turned political party lost one of South Africa's industrial centers, ironically called "Nelson Mandela Bay" as well as Jacob Zuma's hometown Nkandla.

When the party's big shots sit down after this poll, they'll have a lot of soul-searching to do.

Yellow card for President Zuma

South Africa's voters have shown the ANC the yellow card. They are fed up with what the ANC, respected as a herald of democracy and human rights during Nelson Mandela's era, has become.

South Africans finally want to see the ANC tackle some of the country's biggest woes: Economic stagnation, rampant unemployment, poverty and inequality.

Instead, President Jacob Zuma and many party bigwigs have made headlines for political infighting and financial scandals.

Last year, Zuma appointed (and fired) two finance ministers in one week, sending South Africa's currency into free fall. He used state funds to beef up his rural residency. Powerful businessmen revealed in public that they have enough power over him to decide who becomes a minister and who doesn't.

As much as they were about councillors, mayors and the like, these elections were also a referendum on Zuma's leadership. The huge losses for the ANC show that dissent with the head of state is growing. There is no one to blame for the ANC's poor showing at the ballot box except the ANC itself.

Now the air for the president is going to get thinner. So far, Zuma has managed to quash any dissent against him in the ANC through his tight network of political supporters. Now the calls for his resignation are going to get louder. In 2019, South Africa will elect a new president and parliament. If Zuma stays in office until then, the losses could well be even higher than than this time around. But he's not going to leave office prematurely without a fight.

Time to work!

But constant infighting within the ANC isn't going to improve the lives of anyone. On the contrary, South Africa could wake up to three years of political stalemate, with pro- and anti-Zuma camps wrestling for power rather than working on solutions for South Africa's problems. It's a situation the country can ill afford.

So, if the ANC wants to do win an election with a result the party is used to, there is only one thing its officials can do: Stop the blame games, stop enriching yourselves, roll up your sleeves and get down to work. Your country deserves it.