President Cyril Ramaphosa has appealed for harmony and collaboration among the political parties in South Africa in the wake of the African National Congress’s (ANC) substantial defeat in the most recent election. This is a significant change in the nation’s political climate since it is the first time since the end of apartheid that the ANC has not held a majority.
The results of last week’s election demonstrated a sharp loss in public support for the ANC, which saw a sharp decline from 57.5% in the 2019 elections to just 40.2% of the vote. The ANC now has 159 seats in the 400-seat National Assembly, a substantial decrease from the 230 seats it formerly had. Due to this result, the ANC must create a coalition government, which is unprecedented in South Africa’s history.
In his statement following the announcement of the results by the electoral commission, President Ramaphosa described the election as a “victory for our democracy,” emphasizing the public’s desire for parties to transcend their differences for national welfare. “This is the time for all of us to put South Africa first,” Ramaphosa asserted, signaling a readiness to embrace the complexities of coalition politics.
The election results have sparked widespread speculation about President Ramaphosa’s political future and the direction of the ANC. Fikile Mbalula, the ANC’s secretary general, dismissed suggestions of Ramaphosa stepping down, admitting the party’s past mistakes but affirming a commitment to forming an effective government. The ANC’s leadership is set to convene to strategize on navigating this new political reality.
Meanwhile, the main opposition, the Democratic Alliance (DA), which garnered 21.8% of the vote, has already begun negotiations with other parties to form a potential coalition that excludes the ANC. DA leader John Steenhuisen has expressed his party’s intent to prevent a coalition that could include the far-left Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) or the newly formed uMkhonto we Sizwe (MK), describing such an alliance as a “doomsday coalition.”
The MK party, which was founded after the ANC’s former armed wing and is headed by former president Jacob Zuma, received 14.6% of the vote and is thinking of contesting the election results in court. 9.5% of the vote was won by the EFF, another important participant.
The DA may work with the conservative Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP), which has a sizable following in KwaZulu-Natal province and received almost 4% of the vote, to support the ANC in important decisions in exchange for large parliamentary roles, according to local media, further complicating the coalition dynamics.
