The African National Congress (ANC), in power since the end of the apartheid regime of racial segregation and the election of Nelson Mandela in 1994, lost its absolute majority in Parliament for the first time and will have to seek alliances to continue governing South Africa.
With more than 99.85% of the votes counted, the ANC, led by current president Cyril Ramaphosa, obtained just 40.21% of the votes in Wednesday’s legislative elections, a considerable drop compared to the 57.5% of 2019, according to official data released this Saturday.
This constitutes the worst result for the party that came to power in 1994 with the emblematic leader of the fight against apartheid Nelson Mandela and has governed with an absolute majority since then.
“We have been talking to everyone, even before the elections,” ANC deputy secretary-general Nomvula Mokonyane declared on Friday, stating that the party’s decision-making body would set the course to follow after the announcement of the final results.
“Everything must be based on principles and not on an act of desperation,” he added, referring to the search for future partners to govern this country with large mines of gold, platinum and diamonds.
In second place, with 21.81% of the votes, is the neoliberal Democratic Alliance, which carries an image of a white minority party.
It is followed, with 14.5%, by the Umkhonto We Sizwe (MK) party, created just six months ago by the former head of the ANC and former president Jacob Zuma, who caused the great surprise of these elections. And in fourth place are the radical left Fighters for Economic Freedom (EFF), with 9.48%. Zuma questioned the result and called on the authorities to refrain from validating the figures.
“If that happens, they will be provoking us,” declared Zuma, 82, at a press conference, after citing “serious” issues that he did not specify. His party spokesman said the group had requested a recount of the votes.
The president of the Electoral Commission, Mosotho Moepya, assured that the entity will review “everything that is in front of us” and that he ordered recounts in 24 instances. “The commission is ready to announce the election result” on Sunday, he added. The 400 deputies of the new legislature must elect this month the new head of state of the country, which is part of the BRICS group of emerging powers (along with Brazil, Russia, India and China).
The five leaders who have succeeded each other since 1994 belonged to the ANC.
If Ramaphosa, 71, wants to remain at the head of the country, he must decide whether to look for allies on the right or left of the political spectrum.
An alliance with the DA, led by white politician John Steenhuisen, could run into resistance within the ANC.
His program, which supports the free market and the end of economic empowerment programs for the black population, is at the opposite end of the ruling party. “Negotiations between the parties have not yet begun, but channels have been opened, one-on-one conversations,” Helen Zille, a member of the DA’s steering committee, told AFP.
Mandela’s grandson, Mandla Mandela, an outgoing ANC MP, stressed that the DA had “different ideals” that complicated an alliance and said it was more likely to collaborate with the EFF or MK.
Possible coalitions
However, these options could also provoke rejection in the more moderate sectors of the ANC.
For analyst Susan Booysen, the demands of Julius Malema’s EFF, a former ANC militant, are perceived as “too erratic” and “unpredictable.” “We are not desperate and we will not give up on our demands or our principles,” Malema declared at a press conference on Saturday.
Nor does a rapprochement between Ramaphosa and Zuma, who had to resign from the presidency in 2018 due to corruption accusations, be easy. The ANC retains the loyalty of many voters for its leading role in the overthrow of the segregation regime.
But for many voters, the party that long embodied the dream of access to education, housing and other basic services failed to deliver on its promises. Its fall is explained, according to analysts, by the increase in crime, poverty and inequality, in a country with an unemployment rate of 32.9%, one of the highest in the world.
Daily life is also affected by frequent water and electricity outages. And corruption cases involving senior party officials also undermined already badly damaged trust.
