The ANC dilemma which will determine South Africa's future

South Africa's governing African National Congress (ANC) is faced with a tricky dilemma which will determine the future of the country after it spectacularly lost its parliamentary majority in last week's election.

Having won only 40% of the vote, the ANC needs to find a coalition partner to secure a majority in parliament which will support its choice of president and legislative plans - unless it tries to go alone with a minority government.

One option would be to strike a deal with the second biggest party, the centre-right Democratic Alliance (DA), which won 22% of the vote.

However this would be politically risky, as the DA's critics accuse it of trying to protect the economic privileges the country's white minority built up during the racist system of apartheid - a charge the party denies.

Alternatively, the ANC could work with two radical parties that broke away from it - former President Jacob Zuma's uMkhonto weSizwe (MK) party or Julius Malema's Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF).