As South Africa enters a more ‘mixed coalition style of politics’, can ANC ‘revive its fortunes’?

As South Africa enters a more ‘mixed coalition style of politics’, can ANC ‘revive its fortunes’?

now vote counting is underway in South Africa after Wednesday’s election President siril Rosa is seeking a second term but polls indicate the ruling ANC which ushered in the end of white minority rule 30 years ago may have its days numbered many South Africans particularly frustrated with high rates of unemployment which hover at around 33% final uh election results are due out this Sunday Jo jamine follow this report long after Wednesday’s 9:00 p.m. deadline and lines of South African voters could still be seen snaking their way into polling stations across the country Spirits remained High though as voters participated in the Democratic process our vote is something that we fought for so I will definitely wait here for as long as it takes to vote here on Robin Island the same prison that once held Nelson Mandela bongeka ganga voted for the first time Freedom was I can say threat in this island so being here and V care is just such a great thing ever while passing without serious incident the day was still checkered by protests power outages and lengthy technical delays as voters also became confused over the amount of choices available nonetheless election officials made note of the turnout it will probably be well beyond what we had the 66% we had in 2019 one of those in a more bullish mood was the country’s president Sol ramapa as he dropped his ballot in Soto the people of South Africa will give thec as they vote today a firm majority there isn’t even a doubt about that recent polls though have put the ruling a andc at less than 50% for the first time since 1994 leaving others with a kingmaker role in their sights for the first time in 30 years There’s an opportunity for change in South Africa at a government level we are here to take over government that’s where our Target is with counting underway final results are likely to be known by Sunday after which Parliament has two weeks to choose South Africa’s next president we can now bring in Daniel silk director of the political Futures consultancy who joins us from Cape Town thank you very much for speaking to us here on France 24 today now there was not a long time ago where thec were real heroes in South Africa I mean this party ushered in the end of white minority rule what happened well I think uh the country has suffered under extensive corruption over the course of the last 10 15 years State capture has taken its toll and of course this has affected Service delivery the state owned Enterprises have been unable to provide uh reliable electricity the transportation company has not been able to provide reliable rail Services the roads have Pooles and there is exceptionally high unemployment one of the highest levels in the world and I think in the end voters are beginning to to react and they’re beginning to blame the governing ANC for these deficiencies and who is thec up against because it seems that the opposition is kind of fractured the opposition has been fractured we’ve seen a multitude of additional political parties new players on the political scene uh the anc’s uh classic enemy has been the Democratic uh Alliance a moderate Centrist party a more leftist Marxist party called the economic freedom fighters but the big Challenger this year particularly in the province of quaza nutel has been former president Jacob Zuma’s new party swe and that is decimating thec vote particularly amongst Zulu voters in that Ken Province okay I want to talk about Jacob Zumer for a second here because a lot of the anc’s problems are linked to Jacob Zuma’s presidency given that how is it that he is taking votes away from thec well I think there’s a protest vote certainly among sectors of South Africa against uh sir ramapa and the leadership of ramapa but I think when we look back on this election and we analyze the results we may well see that the support for Jacob Zuma’s party and for Jacob Zuma is very much more of an ethnic or tribal vote in South Africa since Zuma derives most of his support from the Zulu ethnic group most populous in quaza Nel and I think we’re seeing a reversion back to ethnic-based identification politics within South Africa and that probably would explain his good showing now if the polls are right of course South Africa is headed for Uncharted Territory does the opposition once they do come together will they have what it takes to fix many of South Africa’s problems including crime corruption uh power outages and as you said that unemployment rate that is incredibly high at what 33% 32.9% uh yeah in fact that unemployment rate is higher much higher even amongst young South Africans over 50% look there’s a long way to go here in deciding who the next government is going to going to be thec will be the largest party it’s going to full below 50% it will need to choose whether it’s going to go with the leftist Marxist grouping or whether it’s going to go with the Centrist more Pro bus grouping that’s going to ultimately uh set the course for South African economic policy and whether we rescue the country or begin a process of rescuing the country or in fact deteriorate further into populist policies there’s no decision yet on how that government is going to be comprised we’ll wait for the final results because of course fixing things like unemployment takes a lot of time no new government is going to come with a magic wand and and things will get better automatically no you’re quite right uh the deficiencies in the state in delivery are real uh this is a a medium-term project I think that if uh South Africans come together and there are Partnerships between the state and the business Community you can begin a process of improving the life of South Africans and improving all of these services but I have to say that that’s a political decision it depends on how the uh government of the day is going to be constructed when the governing party drops below 50% it requires some sort of Coalition partner and choos the right partner is really the critical issue and the unknown for South Africa at this stage now if the polls are right and the ENC does in fact find itself uh out of government for the first time in 30 years uh how does the party revive things well I don’t think it’s going to be out of government I think it’s going to be a weaker government it’s going to be a a 45% government because it’ll still be by far the largest political party in South Africa so it will have the best chance of forming a government the question is and I think you’re rightly said Canada revive its fortunes I think thec I think I think South African politics has changed after this particular election we’ve seen a fragmentation of the electorate across various ethnic cultural Regional lines um and I think that we entering now a more mixed um Coalition style of politics in South Africa more Akin actually to many European countries who have coalitions fragmented and messy as they are and it may well be not possible for thec to restore itself to being that big U demonic power that it was for the last 30 years would you say jobs topped voters Minds as they headed to the polls across ages not just the youth yeah I think jobs were the number one issue corruption certainly has been U again uh one of the top issues uh and uh the fact that the lights have gone out in South Africa due to power blackouts over the course of the last 18 months these are these are all concerns for South Africans it’s really um a disappointment in the inability of government to deliver and uh the disappointment in the lack of opportunity that’s available to so many South Africans Daniel S we’re going to have to leave you there thank you very much for joining us on the program today

The African National Congress looked set on Thursday to lose the parliamentary majority it has held for 30 years, as partial election results suggested it would need a partner to stay in power – a first in South Africa’s post-apartheid history. If the final results confirm the loss of its majority, the ANC will be forced to make a deal with one or more other parties to govern – a situation that could lead to political volatility in the coming weeks or months. With the ANC on course to lose its absolute majority in South Africa’s seismic election, FRANCE 24’s Delano D’Souza is joined by Daniel Silke, Director of the Political Futures Consultancy Keynote Speaker.

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