The African National Congress (ANC) in South Africa, has been returned to power as the final results from the Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) show. However, this was the ANC’s worst result to date.
According to data released by the IEC, the ANC secured 58% of the vote, ahead of the Democratic Alliance (DA) on 21%. The radical Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF), came in third with 11% of the total votes. This shows that the leading party will rule for the sixth straight term since the end of official apartheid, 25 years ago.
Reduced Majority
Even with 58% of the vote, this outcome for the ANC is its worst-ever showing at the polls. According to Al-Jazeera, “Support for the ANC has steadily declined since it took a record 69 percent of the vote in 2004. This year’s electoral performance comes amid growing voter frustration over rampant corruption and high unemployment rates.”
Despite their win, the ruling party must now work even harder to regain the confidence of the people after Jacob Zuma’s series of scandals eroded their trust in the party.
In his victory speech, the ruling party’s leader, Cyril Ramaphosa said the win indicates that the people still have faith in the ANC and now they must build on that.
“Our people have given all of the leaders of our country a firm mandate to build a better South Africa for all.”
“Let us now work together, black and white, men and women, young and old, to build a South Africa that truly belongs to all who live in it as proclaimed by our forebears,” Mr Ramaphosa told supporters in Pretoria.
Slump in number of young voters
The overall voter turnout was capped at 65% with more than half of the youth failing to come out to vote. This is surprising as the youth has typically been a driving force in driving change, politically, within the country.
One of the reasons why this has happened is the economic situation in the country and the rising rate of unemployment. In the BBC’s report, “One young voter said her future employment prospects were on her mind. “I don’t feel confident about getting the job I want,” she said.”
Another person interviewed mentioned: “I’m a member of the ANC, but I didn’t vote for them this time,” construction worker Thabo Makhene told Reuters news agency. “They need to catch a wake-up. The way they run the state, mishandling state funds, they’ve lost their morals.”
Al-Jazeera reports a similar situation where they state: “Among those who did not cast their votes was Lesego Sidebe, who lives in Johannesburg’s Alexandra township, where hundreds staged protests over crime and poor services in the lead up to the election.
“I’m 25 and nothing has changed. So why should I vote?” the unemployed young man said. “They call us born frees, but I don’t feel free.”
Saturday’s result, which gives the ANC 230 seats in the 400-member parliament, will also renew pressure on Ramaphosa to deal with cabinet ministers accused of corruption, decisively.
The South African reports that “the official opposition party, the Democratic Alliance (DA), also suffered some debilitating defeats, largely due to the monumental growth of the lesser-known Freedom Front Plus (VF+). Also, the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) showed the greatest gains at this year’s electoral conference – unseating the DA as the official opposition in Mpumalanga – and increasing its national vote share by more than 4%.”
