Nelson Mandela’s party loses majority in South Africa for first time since end of apartheid
JOHANNESBURG ā South Africa announced its final election results Sunday that confirmed no party won a majority, and unprecedenteź¦°d coalitions talks were startingź§ to find a way forward for Africaās most advanced economy.
The African National Congress party had already lost its 30-year majority after more than 99% of votes were counted by Saturday and š¼showed it couldnāt surpass 50%. The ANC received around 40% of the votes in last weekās election in the final count, the largest share.
Without a majority it will needā to agree a coalition with another party or parties for the first time to govern South Africa and reelect President Cyril Ramaphosa for a second term.
South Africš¼aās national elections decide how many seats each party gets in Parliament and lawmakers elect the president later.
The ANC wą²as the party of Nelson Mandela and freed South Africa from the apartheid system of āwhite minority rule in 1994. It had governed with a comfortable majority since then.
The ANC said earlier Sunāday that it was starting its negotiations with all major parties in an attempt to form South Africaās first national cāoalition government.
ANC Secretary-General Fikile Mbalula saiź§d the party was open to all negotiations, even with the main opposition Democratic Alliance, which has led the chorus of criticism of the ANC for years but is viewed by many analysts as the most stable coalią·“tion option for South Africa.
The DA won the second šŗmost votes with around 21% and the two parties would hold a majority together and be able to governš .
There is some time pressure for coalition talks to progress and for the uncertainty to be minimized given South Africaās new Parliament needs to sit for the fź§irst time and elect a president within 14 dšØays of the election results being declared.
Ramaphosa, the leader oš f the ANC, is seeking a second and final term and Mbalula said his position as leader of the paą·“rty was not in question despite the election result. Mbalula said the ANC would not consider the demands by the MK Party of former President Jacob Zuma that Ramaphosa step down as a condition for talks.
āNo poliš®tical party will dictate terms to us, the ANC. They will not ā¦ You come to us with that demand, forget (šit),ā Mbalula said.
South Africa is a leading voice for itsš continent and the developing world on the global stage and is due to take over the presidency of the Group of 20 rich and deveź¦æloping nations late this year. Itās the only African nation in that group.
āEveryone is looking to āsee if South Africa can weathešr the storm and come out the other side,ā political analyst Oscar van Heerden said on the eNCA news network.
Amid many options, the ANC could also join with MK and the far-left Economic Freedom Fighters, although they have been šcast as partners that would make investors uneasy.
Both have pledged to nationalize parāts of South Africaās economy, including its gold ašnd platinum mines, among the worldās biggest producers.
Van Heerden said an ANC-DA coalition would āpossibly give stabilityā but there were some within the ANC who would oppose it. Other smaller parties could be involved to dilute it and make it more palatable for the ANC, some ą“commentators said.
āThe DA has apprš³oached the ANC as the enemy over many, many years,ā van Heerden said. āThe next few days is going to be a very difficult period. People will have to be mature behind closed doors.ā