South Africa’s ruling African National Congress (ANC) faced the imminent confirmation on Saturday of losing its three-decade-long absolute majority, signaling the need to forge alliances to retain power.
With over 98 percent of votes counted from Wednesday’s election, President Cyril Ramaphosa’s ANC garnered only 40.15 percent support, a significant drop from the 57.5 percent it secured in 2019.
This marks a significant shift for South Africa, as the ANC has held an absolute majority since 1994 when Nelson Mandela led the nation out of white-minority rule.
Nomvula Mokonyane, ANC’s deputy secretary-general, emphasized that discussions with potential allies had been ongoing even before the election, and the party’s decision-making body would determine the path forward based on principles rather than desperation.
The website of South Africa’s electoral commission experienced downtime on Friday as the nation tallied votes from the critical election.
While the centre-right Democratic Alliance (DA) maintained its second-place position with 21.71 percent, up slightly from 2019, it was the emergence of former President Jacob Zuma’s uMkhonto weSizwe (MK) at 12.6 percent that surprised many.
The radical leftist Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) secured fourth place with 9.4 percent.
While the final results were to be formally announced on Sunday, politicians shifted focus to the prospects of an ANC-led coalition as the outcome became evident.
President Ramaphosa faces the decision of seeking alliances either to the right or left, with resistance within the ANC to partnering with the DA due to differing ideologies.
Mandla Mandela, an outgoing ANC lawmaker and grandson of Nelson Mandela, highlighted the disparities in ideals between the ANC and the DA.
Former ANC figures, such as Julius Malema’s EFF or Zuma’s MK, were considered more likely allies, despite potential resistance within moderate sections of the ANC.
However, analyst Susan Booysen cautioned against alliances with the EFF, citing its unpredictability, while the rift between Ramaphosa and Zuma posed significant challenges to collaboration.
MK spokesman Nhlamulo Ndhlela emphasized engaging with the ANC but expressed reluctance to engage with Ramaphosa’s leadership.
Despite these challenges, Mokonyane remained confident in the ANC’s approach, asserting that leadership decisions within the party were not dictated by presidential elections but rather collective party interests.
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