South Africa’s ruling ANC is on the brink of losing its majority in a landmark election result
South Africa's ruling ANC is on the brink of losing its majority in a landmark election result
ANC needed to lose an election a long time ago.
While I agree that the ANC has deserved to lose an election for a while, one must be very careful here. Without any viable opposition party ( the DA is not considered a viable opposition party by the majority of South Africans, as seen by them failing to grow their voter base this election), the "big tent" ANC is splitting along racial, ethnic, cultural, and religious lines, in a reactionary manner. Jacob Zuma's MK party is the most obvious example of this, their manifesto calls for scrapping the constitution.
Why should we hold South Africa to a different standard than other democracies? If we encourage voters to pull support in all major parties in "mature" democracies, why not encourage similar behavior in a democracy like South Africa? A parliamentary system is the best system in allowing a collection of minor parties to come together in creating a new majority government.
This is the best summary I could come up with:
JOHANNESBURG (AP) — South Africa’s ruling African National Congress was on the brink of losing its parliamentary majority for the first time Saturday after an election that brought a stunning drop in support for the party that led its country out of apartheid under Nelson Mandela.
It is a huge slide considering the ANC has dominated South African politics for 30 years since the end of white minority rule in 1994 and at its height commanded 70% of the vote in Africa’s most advanced economy.
The main opposition Democratic Alliance has around 21% of the vote with counts still coming in; the MK Party of former President Jacob Zuma has 14% and the Economic Freedom Fighters has 9%.
Despite the uncertainty, South African opposition parties were hailing the new political picture as a much-needed change for the country of 62 million, which is Africa’s most developed but also one of the most unequal in the world.
The official unemployment rate is 32%, one of the highest in the world, and the poverty disproportionately affects Black people, who make up 80% of the population and have been the core of the ANC’s support for years.
The ANC has also been blamed — and apparently punished by voters — for a failure in basic government services that impacts millions and leaves many without water, electricity or proper housing.
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They will lose their majority. Votes are 99% counted and the ANC is barely above 40% of the vote. The ANC have screwed themselves with rampant corruption and a failure to deliver government services reliably, the most obvious example being the rolling electricity blackouts (loadshedding) that South Africans regularly experience. Having no electricity for 8+ hours a day at worst due to government incompetence, corruption, and austerity is not workable.