By Alexander Winning
JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) – South Africa was set to end three decades of dominance by the party that liberated the country from apartheid on Saturday as voters angry about unemployment, inequality and power shortages cut the African National Congress’s (ANC) stake. in the votes to 40%.
A dramatically weakened mandate for Nelson Mandela’s old party, compared to the 57.5% it received in the previous 2019 parliamentary election, means the ANC must share power with a rival to retain it – an unprecedented prospect.
“We can talk to anyone and everyone,” Gwede Mantashe, the ANC president and current mines and energy minister, told reporters in comments broadcast by the South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC), dodging a question about who the party discussed a possible coalition. deal with it.
The counting of votes from Wednesday’s poll entered its final phase on Saturday morning, with results from more than 98% of polling stations giving the ANC 40.29%.
The main opposition party, the Democratic Alliance (DA), had 21.63% and uMkhonto we Sizwe (MK), a new party led by former president Jacob Zuma, managed 14.71%.
The ANC has won every previous national election by a landslide since the historic 1994 vote that ended white minority rule, but over the past decade its support has waned as the economy stagnated, unemployment rose and roads and power stations crumbled.
MK’s strong performance, especially in Zuma’s home province of KwaZulu-Natal, is one of the main reasons why the ANC failed to win a majority and will now have to strike a coalition deal or some other form of deal with one or more smaller parties .
“WE’RE ALL TALKING”
Political parties’ share of votes determines their seats in the National Assembly, which elects the country’s president.
Investors in Africa’s most industrialized economy will hope the uncertain picture can quickly become clear and the country can avoid a prolonged period of feuding as the sides struggle to reach an agreement.
Some parties have questioned what they believe are inconsistencies in vote counting that could lead to some results being disputed.
“There is peace, there is harmony. We are all talking to each other,” ANC first deputy secretary-general Nomvula Mokonyane said on SABC. “I would like the mood that exists here to penetrate communities and voters.”
President Cyril Ramaphosa can theoretically still keep his job, as the former liberation movement was on course to receive about twice as many votes as the next party. But he will be weakened and could face calls to quit from both opposition parties and critics in the deeply divided ANC.
However, on Friday a top ANC official backed him to stay on as party leader, and analysts say he has no clear successor.
A deal to keep the ANC in the presidency could involve opposition support in exchange for cabinet posts or greater control over parliament, perhaps even the speaker.
The Election Commission has announced a final announcement of the results for Sunday.
(Additional reporting by Silvia Aloisi in Johannesburg and Wendell Roelf in Cape Town, editing by Tim Cocks)
