JOHANNESBURG: South Africa’s ruling party African National Congress (ANC) was on course to lose its three-decade-old absolute majority on Friday, having won just 41 percent of the vote with 85 percent of ballots counted, local and western media reported.
If this score in confirmed in final results over the weekend, the ANC would still be the major party, but need allies in to retain power.
ANC’s deputy secretary general Nomvula Mokonyane said that they have been talking with everybody even before the polls. Nomvula Mokonyane said that the party’s decision-making body would set the course to follow following final results are announced.
As votes continued to be validated, data from the Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) indicated the centre-right Democratic Alliance (DA) secured second position with 21.95 percent. In third position was former president Jacob Zuma’s uMkhonto weSizwe (MK) on 12.6 percent, a surprise score for a party founded just a few months ago as a vehicle for the former ANC leader. The radical leftist Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) was in fourth place with 9.4 percent.
The final results are likely at the weekend, but with the trends clear, pundits and politicians were turning their attention to the prospects of an ANC-led coalition in South Africa.
Mandela’s grandson, Mandla Mandela, an outgoing ANC MP said that the DA held “different ideals” making it too hard to partner with. He added that the radical left groups led by former ANC leaders: firebrand Julius Malema’s EFF or Zuma’s MK, were more likely bedfellows.
