South Africa’s ANC meets after worst-ever election showing

Résumé détaillé

BOKSBURG: South Africa’s African National Congress (ANC) met on Thursday to assess the damage from its worst election showing ever and map out its coalition ...

BOKSBURG: South Africa’s African National Congress (ANC) met on Thursday to assess the damage from its worst election showing ever and map out its coalition strategy, after voters stripped it of its dominance in municipalities.

The ANC, Africa’s oldest liberation movement, has long relied on the political capital of its anti-apartheid legacy. But it won only about 31 percent of the vote in last week’s local government elections.

It remained the largest party nationally, but its support fell sharply across key urban centers, including Johannesburg and Pretoria. Voters punished President Cyril Ramaphosa’s party over corruption scandals and its failure to deliver basic public services in the areas it governs.

The National Executive Committee, the party’s highest decision-making body, will adopt a framework to guide coalition negotiations and hear reports on initial talks with other parties, the ANC said.

“The election outcome has placed before the ANC a serious political responsibility to listen to the people, confront its shortcomings and provide leadership as municipalities prepare to establish governments,” it said.

Cape Town was the only one of South Africa’s eight major metros where a party won an outright majority. The liberal Democratic Alliance (DA), the ANC’s closest rival, took 56.4 percent of the vote there. Elsewhere, fragmented results have set the stage for complex coalition bargaining.

The ANC was already forced to share power nationally after losing its parliamentary majority in the 2024 general election. It then formed a government of national unity with nine other parties.

The party said on Wednesday its response would not be reduced to “negotiating for positions” but would focus on improving South Africans’ lives and advancing the party’s renewal.

Previous local coalitions have been plagued by infighting, shifting loyalties and collapsing majorities, often leaving councils paralyzed and basic services neglected.

Début de l'article, extrait de Kuwait Times. Pour lire la suite, ouvrez l'article chez le média.