Stanbic Bank
Stanbic Bank
Stanbic Bank
Stanbic Bank
22.5 C
Kampala
Stanbic Bank
Stanbic Bank
Stanbic Bank
Stanbic Bank

ANC in tight electoral race, loses key swing municipality

Must read

South Africa’s governing African National Congress (ANC) has suffered its worst electoral setback since apartheid ended in 1994.

With 94 per cent of the votes counted after Wednesday’s municipal elections, the party has lost the key battleground of Nelson Mandela Bay to the opposition Democratic Alliance (DA).

The two parties are in a close fight for Johannesburg and Pretoria but the ANC is still in the lead nationally, with 54 per cent of the vote.

The ANC has won more than 60 per cent of the vote at every election since the end of apartheid more than two decades ago.

Unemployment and corruption scandals surrounding President Jacob Zuma have tarnished the ANC’s image.

Named after ANC liberation hero and South Africa’s first democratically elected president, the loss of Nelson Mandela Bay is a big blow to the party.

Many of the leaders of the struggle against apartheid come from the area.

The DA, which took 46.5 per cent compared to the ANC’s 41 per cent says it is in talks with other parties to form a coalition in the municipality on South Africa’s southern coast.

“If you ask people in Nelson Mandela Bay what they voted for they said, ‘We voted for change,'” DA leader Mmusi Maimane said.

“I think that to me says that our message got through – it says our people heard us and South Africans still believe in a dream of a non-racial South Africa, South Africans still want our country to prosper.”

Media reports indicate it looks like no party will win an outright majority in the economic hubs of Johannesburg or Tshwane, and coalition negotiations are already underway.

The municipal election result is probably the biggest wake-up call the governing ANC has received since it ushered in democracy in South Africa in 1994.

Clearly, the ANC still commands huge support across the country but that support is waning. It can no longer take it for granted that the black majority will blindly follow it.

The best example is in the Nelson Mandela Bay municipality, won by the DA, which has a rich history of anti-apartheid struggle. Its new DA mayor is Athol Trollip, who is white.

Twenty-two years after the end of apartheid, black people are now voting on issues and not on race and Mr Trollip, who speaks fluent Xhosa, would not be where he is if the vast majority of black people had not voted for him.

By Friday mid-morning, the ANC had 54 per cent, followed by 26 per cent for the DA and 8 per cent for the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF).

The local elections are being seen as an indication of the mid-term popularity of President Zuma.

Correspondents say a poor ANC performance could embolden Mr Zuma’s rivals within the party to challenge him.

The next general elections are due in 2019 but Mr Zuma cannot stand for a third term as president.

South Africa’s economy has also been one of the main issues for voters, with growth expected to be zero this year, and unemployment standing at 27 per cent.

Protests demanding better housing and amenities have sprung up across South Africa.

Mr Zuma has also had to weather a corruption scandal, after being ordered to repay taxpayers’ money spent on his private home.

Security was tight for the elections and the electoral commission said voting had passed off smoothly.

 

- Advertisement -

More articles

LEAVE A REPLY

Please enter your comment!
Please enter your name here

- Advertisement -

Latest article

- Advertisement -