JOHANNESBURG (AP) – South Africa’s ruling African National Congress was on the verge of losing its parliamentary majority for the first time on Saturday after an election That brought with it a stunning drop in support for the party led his country out of apartheid under Nelson Mandela.
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 considering the ANC has dominated South African politics for thirty years since the end of the white minority regime in 1994 and at its peak had 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 last vote counts still took 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 South African President Cyril Ramaphosaa 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 co-governing is now the urgent focus as Parliament must elect a president within fourteen days of the final election results being officially announced. There would be a flurry of negotiations, which would likely be complicated.
One possible coalition partner is the new one MK partysaid one of their conditions for an agreement was that Ramaphosa 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 50 parties has contested the national election, but given how far away 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 Democratic Alliance has about 21% of the vote and counting is still coming in; the MK party of former president Jacob Zuma has 14% and the Economic freedom fighters has 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 African 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 most unequal in the world.
South Africa has widespread poverty and extremely high unemployment rates and the ANC has made efforts 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 the failure of basic government services that affects millions and leaves many without water, electricity or proper 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.
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Imray reported from Cape Town, South Africa.
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