JOHANNESBURG (AP) — South Africa’s ruling African National Congress came to the brink of losing its parliamentary majority for the first time Saturday after an election that saw a stunning drop in support for the party that led the country under Nelson Mandela led out of apartheid.
The results were not yet final, but with more than 97% of the votes counted, the ANC had just over 40%. It’s a huge drop when you consider that the ANC has dominated South African politics for 30 years since the end of white minority rule in 1994 and at its peak controlled 70% of the vote in Africa’s most advanced economy.
Election officials have said the final results of Wednesday’s election will be announced Sunday, but it appeared they would now be known sooner. The final counting of votes was still taking place from some of the 23,000 polling stations in the country’s nine provinces.
According to the partial results, the ANC somehow still has the largest share of votes. But without a majority, the country will likely have to enter into a coalition with another party or parties to remain in government. This also has consequences for the future of South African President Cyril Ramaphosa, a protege of Mandela.
South Africans vote for parties in national elections to decide how many seats each party gets in parliament. Lawmakers then elect the president, and if the ANC does not reach the 50% mark, it will not have a majority of lawmakers and will need help from others to re-elect Ramaphosa for a second and final term.
Which parties the ANC could approach to co-govern is now the urgent focus as Parliament must elect a president within a fortnight of the official announcement of the final election results. There would be a flurry of negotiations, which would likely be complicated.
A possible coalition partner, the new MK party, said one of their conditions for an agreement was for Ramaphosa to be removed as leader and president of the ANC.
“We are willing to negotiate with the ANC, but not with Cyril Ramaphosa’s ANC,” MK party spokesperson Nhlamulo Ndlela said.
More than fifty parties participated in the national elections, but given how far the ANC appears to be from a majority, it is likely that it will have to approach one of the three main opposition parties.
The main opposition party, the Democratic Alliance, has about 21% of the vote and counting is still coming in; former president Jacob Zuma’s MK party has 14% and the Economic Freedom Fighters 9%. They have very different ideologies and could push the ANC and South Africa in very different directions in any coalition.
MK and the far-left EFF have called for the nationalization of parts of the economy. The centrist DA is seen as a business-friendly party and analysts say an ANC-DA coalition would be more welcomed by foreign investors.
Despite the uncertainty, South Africa’s opposition parties hailed the new political picture as a much-needed change for the country of 62 million, which is Africa’s most developed but also one of the world’s most unequal.
South Africa has widespread poverty and extremely high unemployment rates, and the ANC is struggling to raise the living standards of millions of people. The official unemployment rate is 32%, one of the highest in the world, and poverty disproportionately affects black people, who make up 80% of the population and have been at the core of the ANC’s support for years.
The ANC has also been blamed – and apparently punished by voters – for a failure in basic government services that is impacting millions of people and leaving many without water, electricity or decent housing.
“We have said for the past 30 years that the way to save South Africa is to break the ANC majority and we have done that,” said John Steenhuisen, leader of the Democratic Alliance.
Nearly 28 million South Africans were registered to vote and turnout was expected to be around 60%, according to figures from the Independent Electoral Commission leading the elections.
___
Imray reported from Cape Town, South Africa.
___
AP Africa News: https://apnews.com/hub/africa
