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This was election year in dozens of other countries around the world.

A few months ago, we looked ahead to some of them, and in particular to the South African and Indian elections.

And it's fair to say that neither of them went as the ruling parties had hoped or as many observers expected.

So today we're following up on those results and the immediate aftermath in both hugely important countries.

What happens next in India and South Africa?

Step inside the briefing room and together we'll find out.

First to South Africa, where May's election took place 30 years

after the African National Congress came to power with Nelson Mandela as their leader.

The ANC had enjoyed a majority of votes

and seats ever since, but not anymore. To find out what happened and what it means for South African

politics, I'm joined by David Everett, Professor at the Vitz School of Governance in Johannesburg,

and Dr Aisha Omar, who is a British Academy International Fellow at SOAS.

Aisha Oma, could you just give us the headline results of what actually happened in the South African elections?

For the first time since the end of apartheid in 1994, the African National Congress, the ANC, has failed to secure an outright majority, receiving only 40.18% of the vote.

This has resulted in the ANC's losing its 30-year dominance on South African politics and necessitated

the formation of a coalition government or what is now being described as a government of national unity.

Insofar as opposition gains, the Democratic Alliance, or the DA, has maintained its position

as the second largest party with 22% of the vote. Most significantly in this election,

the newly formed Enconto a seizeware Party associated with former President Jacob Zuma

emerged as a formidable force, securing 14.58% of the vote, which in a PR system translates into

58 states in the South African Parliament. And while the ANC retained majorities in five of nine

...