Mandela's ANC loses grip on power in South Africa

Historic election result means party must enter coalition

- TANNUR ANDERS

The African National Congress (ANC) party has lost its parliamentary majority in a historic election result that puts South Africa on a new political path for the first time since the end of apartheid.

A dramatically weakened mandate for the legacy party of Nelson Mandela, down from the 57.5 per cent it got in the previous 2019 parliamentary election, means the ANC must share power with a rival in order to keep governing the country – an unprecedented prospect.

“We can talk to everybody and anybody,” Gwede Mantashe, the ANC chair and current mines and energy minister, told reporters in comments carried by the South African Broadcasting Corporation, dodging a question about who the party was discussing a possible coalition deal with.

Vote tallying from Wednesday’s poll was entering its final stages yesterday, with results from 99.53 per cent of polling stations giving the ANC 40.21 per cent. The main opposition party, the Democratic Alliance, had 21.80 per cent, uMkhonto we Sizwe (MK), a new party led by former president Jacob Zuma, managed to grab 14.60 per cent, while the far-left Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF), led by former ANC youth leader Julius Malema, got 9.48 per cent.