South Africa’s ruling ANC announced on Wednesday that it is reaching out to rival parties to form a government of national unity after failing to secure a majority in last week’s general election.
The final results gave President Cyril Ramaphosa’s African National Congress (ANC) 159 seats in the 400-seat National Assembly, marking its lowest performance in a general election to date.
ANC spokesperson Mahlengi Bhengu-Motsiri informed reporters that the party is holding exploratory talks with various other parties to gain enough parliamentary support to form a government and elect a president.
The ANC’s decision-making body is set to meet on Thursday to consider all options, including forming a minority government, Bhengu-Motsiri said. However, the focus is on forming a government of national unity, reflecting the will of the South African people.
“We have engaged with all parties interested in contributing ideas on how we can collectively move our country forward and form a government that ensures national unity and stability,” Bhengu-Motsiri stated.
The ANC has consulted with parties holding diverse agendas, including the center-right Democratic Alliance, the leftist Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF), and the Zulu nationalist Inkatha Freedom Party.
Bhengu-Motsiri mentioned that the EFF, which advocates for land redistribution and nationalization of key economic sectors, and the anti-immigration Patriotic Alliance, have shown willingness to join a broad coalition. However, which groups will ultimately form part of the government depends on ongoing negotiations.
The ANC has also made repeated overtures to former President Jacob Zuma’s uMkhonto weSizwe (MK) party, which secured 14.6 percent of the vote, but these efforts have been ignored. The MK party has rejected the election results and threatened to boycott parliament, stating it would not support an ANC-led government if Ramaphosa remains president. Despite this, the ANC plans to keep Ramaphosa in power.
This announcement followed a meeting of the ANC’s top leaders to strategize after their poor election performance, having garnered only 40 percent of the vote, a sharp decline from the 57.5 percent in 2019.
With the new parliament set to convene in less than two weeks, its first task will be to elect a president who will form the next government.
