The African National Congress, which came to power in 1994 after the end of apartheid in South Africa, lost its parliamentary majority for the first time, according to partial results of the general elections published on Saturday.
With 99% of the vote in Wednesday’s election, the party, once led by Nelson Mandela, received just over 40%, a far cry from the 57.5% it won in 2019.
The party also lost its majority in two of nine provinces, while the opposition, pro-business Democratic Alliance (DA) retained control of a third.
The independent electoral commission that organized the elections said it would officially announce the results by Sunday.
ANC to begin coalition negotiations
ANC national president Gwede Mantashe told DW’s Dianne Hawker that the party would begin negotiations to form a “functional government.”
“There has to be some semblance of agreement on certain issues, and then you can have a functioning government,” he said.
The DA holds 21.83%, while former president Jacob Zuma’s new uMkhontowe Sizwe (MK) party comes third with more than 14% of the vote. The far-left Economic Freedom Fighter (EFF) party comes in fourth with more than 9%.
Based on partial results, many other parties also gained enough support to be represented in Parliament.
Litmus test for Ramaphosa
Lawmakers in Parliament elect the South African president after national elections.
Zuma’s MK party, which has turned against the ANC he once led, has already ruled out a coalition with the ANC if outgoing President Cyril Ramaphosa is not removed as leader and president of the ANC.
“We are ready to negotiate with the ANC, but not with Cyril Ramaphosa’s ANC,” MK Party spokesperson Nhlamulo Ndlela said.
MK’s strong performance, particularly in Zuma’s home province of KwaZulu-Natal, is one of the main reasons why the ANC failed to secure a majority.
EFF leader Julius Malema, who was expelled from the ANC in 2013, said he would work with any party willing to accept land expropriation without compensation, nationalization of the Reserve Bank and the creation of a public bank.
He also said the EFF would form a coalition government focused on fighting racism and imperialism.
“Whoever we collaborate with must not be a puppet or a representation of Western and imperialist interests in South Africa,” he said.
DA leader John Steenhuisen said his party was open to discussions but would first speak to other members of the Multi-Party Charter (MPC), an alliance of 11 opposition parties.
The MPC parties do not have enough support to form a majority government, and although the three main opposition parties would have a combined majority, observers consider such an alliance highly unlikely.
“The election (has) happened now, we have to play the game that the voters gave us and so we are going to look at a variety of options that will exist,” Steenhuisen told Reuters.
An ANC-DA coalition “would be the marriage of two drunk people in Las Vegas. It will never work,” said Gayton McKenzie, the leader of the smaller Patriotic Alliance party.
Materials from the Associated Press were used in this report.
News Source : amp.dw.com
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