CAPE TOWN: Political deal making began in South Africa after its Election Commission gave a detailed break up of seats which confirmed that the ruling African National Congress (ANC) fell 41 seats short of a majority for the first time since the country shrugged off apartheid with multi-race election in 1994.
The loss of majority means the re-election of South African President Cyril Ramaphosa is no more a certainty. The ANC is putting up a brave front by stating that coalition talks will not include a deal not to re-nominate Ramaphosa. The South African President is directly elected by the federal legislature which means that a successful candidate will have to secure over 200 votes.
Winning 159 seats out of 400, ANC will now be forced to consider an alliance with the largely white-led Democratic Alliance which has again come second for the fourth consecutive time with 87 seats, up from the 84 it won in 2019.
ANC’s other alternative alliance partner could be uMkhonto we Sizwe (MK) led by estranged former South African President Jacob Zuma. The MK, contesting for the first time, came in third with 58 seats.
The Economic Freedom Fighters, another black-led party like Zuma’s MK, is fourth with 39 seats against the 44 it won in 2019. But a comfortable majority will elude an ANC-led alliance which will have to look for another partner for the purpose.
As compared to the 2019 polls, the ANC lost 71 seats and 17 per cent of the vote.