ANC records worst poll result, admits public ‘disappointed’

Jo’burg, Thursday

South Africa’s governing African National Congress (ANC) on Thursday was nursing a fresh political bruises after its worst election result, as local polls showed support for the legacy party of Nelson Mandela dipping below half for the first time.

Results from 99 per cent of polling stations in local elections gave it 46 per cent of votes cast, suggesting anger over corruption and poor service delivery had led some voters to defect from the party of the country’s liberation hero, and others to stay away.

The share of the ANC, led by President Cyril Ramaphosa, has consistently declined at local polls, often seen as a prime opportunity for the electorate to lodge protest votes.

In the last municipal polls, in 2016, the ANC got 54 per cent, and in the one before that, 62 per cent.

But rival parties have been unable to capitalise on dissatisfaction with the ANC. Its closest rival, the Democratic Alliance (DA), is still regarded by many as a party for South Africa’s economically privileged white minority.

The Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF), a fledgling Marxist party, is prone to radical and sometimes violent rhetoric that doesn’t appeal to a broad range of voters.

At 0930 GMT, the results from 99 per cent of 23,000 polling stations also showed DA had won 21 per cent of the votes, also down from 27 per cent in 2016, and EFF was hovering around 10 per cent, the Electoral Commission’s website showed.

ANC officials on Wednesday acknowledged a message from voters that the party needs to “shape up”, after being dogged by several corruption scandals and unfulfilled promises to build roads, assure regular water supply and stop power cuts.

If these results are replicated in 2024 polls, the ANC could be forced to seek coalitions to govern.

“It is an unambiguous signal to the ANC from the electorate … people are disappointed in the ANC,” the party’s Deputy Secretary General Jessie Duarte said Wednesday.

ANC failed to regain control of the nation’s economic hub as it lost votes to a newcomer party headed by a former mayor.

The ANC’s loss follows a hemorrhaging of support across the country that’s set to leave the party with less than 50 per cent of the national vote for the first time since the end of apartheid.

The party obtained about 34.1 per cent of the vote in Johannesburg, compared with 44.5 per cent in the last local-government vote five years ago, according to results published Thursday by the electoral commission with 99 per cent of total ballots counted.

The official opposition Democratic Alliance obtained 25.5 per cent, while ex-Mayor Herman Mashaba’s ActionSA got 16.1 per cent, making it the third-biggest party, commission figures showed.

Mashaba, a cosmetics mogul, founded ActionSA last year. During his tenure as mayor from 2016 to 2019, he made some progress in improving control of Johannesburg’s finances and tackling corruption, but drew criticism from human-rights groups for frequent attacks on undocumented migrants.  – Xinhua