The party that ended apartheid under the leadership of Nelson Mandela has suffered a major set-back in South Africa’s local elections, according to results announced on Saturday.
With 98% of the votes counted, the African National Congress (ANC) secured just 30.95% of the vote, the Electoral Commission said.
The white-led liberal party, the Democratic Alliance (DA), achieved 24.56% nationwide.
The ANC, which has dominated politics in South Africa as the largest party for more than 30 years, also lost its majority in six of the eight metropolitan regions, the Electoral Commission said.
In the capital, Pretoria, and economic hub of Johannesburg, the DA is well ahead and is expected to form a coalition that excludes the ANC.
In Cape Town, the DA won an absolute majority, while in Durban, former president Jacob Zuma’s uMkhonto weSizwe (MK) party secured a majority.
Voters punished the ANC for high unemployment and crime, widespread corruption and a dysfunctional public service sector, according to political analysts.
In the 2021 local elections, the ANC still won nearly 46% of the vote.
The ANC’s bitter defeat does not come as a complete surprise. The ANC lost its absolute majority for the first time in 2024 parliamentary elections.
Instead of a conventional coalition, the ANC formed a cross-party government with all the parties represented in parliament, which is still in power.
Source: www.yahoo.com
