By Nellie Peyton and Olivia Kumwenda-Mtambo
JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) – South Africa’s once-dominant African National Congress acknowledged it was humiliated by elections that ended its 30-year majority, but pledged not to replace President Cyril Ramaphosa as a condition of forming a new government coalition.
The official results of Wednesday’s vote, which takes place on Sunday evening, will confirm the end of the ANC’s unchallenged grip on political power and set the clock in motion on a race to strike a deal with one or more opposition parties.
Political parties will then have two weeks to reach an agreement before a new parliament convenes to elect a president, who will still likely emerge from the ANC as the largest party.
Voters, angry about unemployment, inequality and rolling power cuts, have cut support for Nelson Mandela’s old party to 40%, down from 57.5% in the 2019 parliamentary election.
‘Have we made mistakes? Yes, we did. In government and everywhere else,” Fikile Mbalula, party secretary-general, said on Sunday at the first press conference the ANC has held since the election, adding that the party had “nothing to celebrate”. .”
The result means the ANC must now share power, likely with a major political rival, to retain it – an unprecedented prospect since the democratic end of white minority rule in 1994.
“The ANC is committed to forming a government that reflects the will of the people, is stable and capable of governing effectively,” Mbalula said.
He said the ANC will hold discussions internally and with other parties to create national and provisional governments “that reflect the will of the people and are capable of moving the country forward.”
The party’s poor performance has fueled speculation that Ramaphosa’s days could be numbered, either due to the demands of a potential coalition partner or due to an internal leadership challenge.
Mbalula said the ANC would not bow to pressure from other parties for Ramaphosa, once Mandela’s leading negotiator to end apartheid, to resign.
“That’s a no-go area,” he said.
COSATU – South Africa’s largest trade union group and a key ally of the ANC – also backed Ramaphosa.
“The most important thing is that there is a coalition led by the ANC and President Ramaphosa,” said COSATU spokesperson Matthew Parks.
‘LIES OF THE COUNTRY’
Counting from the May 29 poll was all but complete by Sunday afternoon, with results from 99.9% of polling stations.
Before Wednesday, the ANC had won every national election by a wide margin since 1994, but its support has declined over the past decade.
The main opposition party, the white-led, pro-business Democratic Alliance (DA), received 21.8% of the vote.
uMkhonto we Sizwe (MK) – ‘spear of the nation’ in the Zulu language – a new party led by former president Jacob Zuma and named after the former armed wing of the ANC, managed to capture 14.6%, thereby to do the most damage to the ANC.
Despite doing better than expected, MK said it was considering challenging the results in court.
The far-left Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF), led by former ANC youth leader Julius Malema, received 9.5%.
The prospect of a partnership between the ANC and the EFF or the MK has roiled South Africa’s business community and international investors, who would prefer a coalition that brings in the DA.
Leaders of both the DA and the small Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP) were due to meet separately on Sunday to discuss next steps.
“We will look at the country’s ultimate lie,” DA spokesperson Charity McCord said, adding that no coalition talks with any party have yet taken place.
Local media reported that the DA could be open to striking a cooperation pact with the ANC, supporting it on key decisions in exchange for top jobs in parliament. The IFP could also be part of such a deal.
Mbalula said ANC leaders would meet on Tuesday for discussions on the way forward.
(Additional reporting by Bate Felix and Bhargav Acharya in Johannesburg and Wendell Roelf in Cape Town; Writing by Joe Bavier; Editing by Emelia Sithole-Matarise)
