Elections in South Africa

New era: ANC falls well short of an absolute majority

Cyril Ramaphosa casting his vote - his ANC party fell short of an absolute majority for the first time since the end of apartheid.

(Bild: APA/AP Photo/Jerome Delay)

The South African ruling party, the African National Congress (ANC), has lost its absolute majority in the parliamentary elections for the first time since the end of apartheid three decades ago. With just under 98 percent of the votes counted, the ANC had 40.11 percent according to the National Electoral Commission (IEC) on Saturday. This represents a dramatic loss of power of around 17 percentage points for the ruling party, which had received 57.5% of the vote in 2019.

For the party of former anti-apartheid fighter Nelson Mandela, this is more than just a massive electoral debacle. Never before has the former liberation movement had to make political compromises. The time needed to form a coalition has been calculated tightly: Within 14 days of the official announcement of the election results by the IEC, the 400 newly elected members of parliament must form a government and elect a president.

Who will be a coalition partner?
According to political commentators, there are two main possible coalition partners: firstly, the liberal Democratic Alliance (DA), which has 21.71% according to the preliminary partial results. Although the DA is ideologically far removed from the ANC, it has already proven itself at provincial level: It has governed the Western Cape province, where the tourist metropolis of Cape Town is located, since 2009.

John Steenhuisen, chairman of the DA, described the result of the parliamentary elections as a "win for South Africa's democracy"

(Bild: APA/AP Photo/Themba Hadebe)

According to analysts, the other option for a coalition is a merger of the ANC with the Marxist-influenced Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) party, which advocates large-scale expropriations without compensation and nationalizations and, according to the preliminary partial results, is at 9.37 percent. As the EFF is led by the former chairman of the ANC Youth League, Julius Malema, the ANC and EFF are relatively close politically. However, such a coalition could scare off investors and deepen the economic crisis in the country.

Ramaphosa does not want to resign
The ANC remained silent on Saturday morning. ANC Deputy Secretary-General, Momvula Mikonyane, had only given assurances in a brief press briefing the previous day that President Cyril Ramaphosa would not resign. However, it is now unclear whether Ramaphosa will be re-elected by parliament for a fifth term as head of state.

The 71-year-old was once seen as a beacon of hope for the rainbow nation. In 2018, he ousted Zuma, who had systematically exploited the state for many years. Today, however, Ramaphosa is accused of having been largely incapable of acting during his six-year term of office due to power games within the party.

The chairman of the DA, John Steenhuisen, described the result of the parliamentary elections as a "win for South Africa's democracy", even if the formation of a government is still open. "To save South Africa, the ANC's absolute majority had to be broken, and we have achieved that," said Steenhuisen.