South Africa general elections: ANC loses 30-year parliamentary majority
South Africa’s African National Congress (ANC) party has lost its parliamentary majority in a historic election, prompting it to seek coalition partners to form a new government.
The once-ruling ANC party had lost its 30-year parliamentary dominance after more than 99 percent of votes were counted on Saturday, indicating that its vote share in Wednesday’s general elections had dropped to 40 percent.
It is well short of the majority it had held since the abolishment of the Apartheid system in 1994 under the leadership of Nelson Mandela.
The main opposition party, the Democratic Alliance (DA), had won 21.63 percent of the votes, while uMkhonto we Sizwe (MK), a new party led by former president and ANC leader Jacob Zuma, had managed to grab 14.71 percent.
Opposition parties have hailed the results as a big breakthrough for a country struggling with deep poverty and inequality.
“The way to rescue South Africa is to break the ANC’s majority and we have done that,” said main opposition leader John Steenhuisen.
However, the ANC remains the biggest party in parliament. The final results are still to be formally declared by the Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) National Results Center.
It is already clear that the ANC cannot pass the 50 percent threshold to form a government on its own. The final results are scheduled to be announced on Sunday.
Therefore, the ANC must share power with a rival in order to keep it, but the party’s chairman said they have not made a decision on the matter yet.
“We can talk to everybody and anybody,” Gwede Mantashe, who is currently the mines and energy minister, told reporters in comments broadcast by the South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC).
South Africa’s President Cyril Ramaphosa could likely remain in his position as the ANC is still the biggest party in parliament.
However, he will have lesser influence and could be called to resign by the opposition parties and his critics from the deeply divided ANC party. Ramaphosa has no replacement for the time being.
Zuma, in theory, could be a possible successor to Ramaphosa.
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