The President of South Africa, Cyril Ramaphosa has appealed to political parties in the country to work together for the good of the country as final results from last week’s election confirmed his African National Congress (ANC) lost its majority for the first time.
The result announced on Sunday is the ANC’s worst election showing since it came to power 30 years ago, ending white minority rule. This marks a significant decline for Africa’s oldest liberation movement, once led by Nelson Mandela.
Voters, angry at joblessness, inequality and rolling blackouts, slashed support for the ANC to 40.2 percent, down from 57.5 percent in the 2019 parliamentary vote.
Africa Today News, New York reports that the main opposition party, the Democratic Alliance (DA), had 21.6 percent and uMkhonto we Sizwe (MK), a new party led by former president and ANC leader Jacob Zuma, managed to grab 14.7 percent – pulling away votes from the ANC.
Official results showed the ANC winning 159 seats in the 400-seat National Assembly, down from 230 previously.
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“South Africans expect the parties for which they have voted to find common ground, overcome their differences, and act together for the good of everyone. That’s what South Africans have said,” Ramaphosa said after the electoral commission announced the final results.
He called the election a “victory for our democracy”.
“This is the time for all of us to put South Africa first,” Ramaphosa added.
Reporting from the Results Operation Centre in Midrand, South Africa, Al Jazeera’s Mike Hanna said the ANC will now try to find a way to form a new government.
“It has to find a partner in order to be able to govern. Otherwise, it could try to form a minority government, which could make it very difficult to pass any form of legislation or advance ANC policy,” he said.
ANC officials earlier said the party was humbled by the result and had “nothing to celebrate” but stood by Ramaphosa, once Mandela’s lead negotiator to end apartheid, and said they would not bend to pressure for him to step down.
The poor showing has fuelled speculation that Ramaphosa’s days might be numbered, either because of the demands of a prospective coalition partner, or as a result of an internal leadership challenge.