The African National Congress has made it clear that President Cyril Ramaphosa will remain in office. He is the party leader and they stand by him. The president has now called for unity.
South Africa’s President Cyril Ramaphosa has called on the country’s political parties to work together for the good of the country as final results from last week’s election confirmed his African National Congress (ANC) lost its majority for the first time. The result, announced on Sunday, is the worse election showing for the ANC – Africa’s oldest liberation movement, once led by Nelson Mandela – since it came to power 30 years ago, ending white minority rule. Voters, angry at joblessness, inequality and rolling blackouts, slashed support for the ANC to 40.2 percent, down from 57.5 percent in the 2019 parliamentary vote. The main opposition party, the Democratic Alliance (DA), had 21.6 percent and uMkhumto we Sizwe (MK), a new party led by former by former President and ANC leader Jacob Zuma, managed to grab 14.7 percent – pulling votes away from the ANC.(Al Jazeera)
The ANC for the first time in thirty years no longer wields a majority. Their dominance has been challenged. Although no party has won outright and parliament is fragmented, the political field has been altered completely for South Africa. Whether for good or worse it cannot be said. None of the other political parties have not clinched a large enough number of seats to form a majority. That now depends on the ANC, which has to go into a coalition with the next largest party the DA or one of the smaller parties the EFF or the MK. To gain a large enough majority they need one more party possibly Build One South Africa (BOSA) or Action SA. All this depends on how Ramaphosa and the ANC’s National Executive Committee manage the situation. The MK party led by Zuma wants to depose Ramaphosa but the ANC is standing firm.
As South Africa heads for a series of complex talks to form a national coalition government for the first time and establish stability, ANC secretary-general Fikile Mbalula said Ramaphosa would remain as party leader and any demands from others that he resign for talks to go ahead was “a no-go area.” President Ramaphosa is the president of the ANC,” Mbalula said in the ANC leadership’s first public comments since the landmark election results. “If you come to us with the demand that Ramaphosa must step down as a president, that is not going to happen.” Mbalula said the ANC was open to talks with every other political party in an effort to form a government. The ANC received just over 40% of votes, falling well short of the majority it has held for all of South Africa’s young democracy. It will be the biggest party by some way. (Africanews)
It is good that the ANC is standing by Ramaphosa. It shows that at least that they will not cave in to blackmail. Neither MK nor the EFF are refusing to work with the ANC so long as Ramaposa is at the helm. Yet it was the ANC that had stood behind Zuma when he was both leader of the party and the country and facing votes of no confidence. Now the tables have turned and the ANC finds themselves in a position to protect the imperfect Ramaphosa. Ramaphos may be imperfect but he is still the better option to keep than Deputy President Paul Mashatile whose exact take on state policy remains a largely unknown entity. The safest course for Ramaphosa to remain in office to form a coalition with the DA and the Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP). They could breathe some necessary changes into government policy and create security and stability.
Its only a matter of time.
Article written by:
Yacoob Cassim
Journalist at Radio Al Ansaar
