South Africa: ANC eyes national unity government after election loss

South Africa’s African National Congress (ANC) has suggested forming a government of national unity after losing its parliamentary majority in last week’s elections. It says it has reached out to all parties but negotiations are still underway.

“The results indicate that the South Africans want all parties to work together,” ANC spokesperson Mahlengi Bhengu-Motsiri told journalists.

The ANC got about 40% of the vote, with the centre-right Democratic Alliance (DA) on 22%, the MK party of former President Jacob Zuma on 15% and the radical Economic Freedom Fighters on 9%. This was the first time the ANC has lost its majority since Nelson Mandela led it to victory in the first democratic elections following the end of the racist system of apartheid in 1994.

Under South Africa’s proportional representation system, any government would need to be formed of parties which together got more than 50% of the vote. Ms Bhengu-Motsiri said the ANC has had discussions with the DA, the EFF and other smaller parties. She revealed that despite reaching out to MK, there has been no positive response.

The ANC spokesperson added that the ANC would like to resolve this quickly as parliament convene in less than two weeks. Its first priority will be to elect a president to form the next government. Since the results were announced, there has been feverish speculation in South Africa about what sort of coalition could be formed.

Forming a government of national unity would allow the ANC to sidestep the dilemma of who to work with. A coalition with the DA would have angered many party activists who see it as representing the interests of the white minority – a charge the party denies.

The DA also opposes two of the ANC’s core policies – its black empowerment programme, which aims to give black people a stake in the economy following their exclusion under apartheid, and the National Health Insurance (NHI) Bill, which promises universal healthcare for all.

Source BBC