Preliminary Presidential results and estimates indicated that South Africa’s ruling African National Congress (ANC) was expected to lose its 30-year-old, uncontested majority on Thursday as voters waited far into the night to cast their votes.
After counting five percent of the votes, the ANC was in the lead, but its percentage was only 44 percent, far lower than the 57 percent it received in 2019. The Democratic Alliance (DA), on the other hand, was in second place with 25 percent, according to the authorities.
With nine percent of the vote, the Marxist Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) came in third, behind former president Jacob Zuma’s uMkhonto weSizwe (MK), which received eight percent.
“The broad church of the ANC has taken a substantial knock. This is a shock to the system for the ANC and ultimately will also be a shock to the system for the average South African, who has only known ANC rule since 1994,” said political analyst Daniel Silke.
President Cyril Ramaphosa would have to look for coalition partners to be re-elected in order to establish a new government if it is proven that his party’s vote share has fallen below 50%. Newspaper headlines on Thursday emphasized that as a significant development in the nation’s democratic history.
“SA on the cusp of shift in politics,” read the front page of daily BusinessDay. “The people have spoken,” headlined The Citizen.
With five consecutive presidents from the party, the African National Congress (ANC) has controlled South Africa’s democracy.
However, during the course of nearly three decades of virtually uncontested dominance, its leadership has been linked to numerous significant corruption scandals, the continent’s most industrialized economy has faltered, and rates of unemployment and crime have reached all-time highs.
By forming alliances with a few of the forty-six smaller and regional parties running in the election, the ANC could secure a majority if it approaches fifty percent of the vote. But this seemed implausible more and more.
According to a forecast by the reputable Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), it was expected to receive fewer than 42% of the vote, a proportion that would compel it to form an alliance with a more powerful competitor.
