South Africa’s President Cyril Ramaphosa has admitted his African National Congress (ANC) party has suffered a challenging election result, after the party lost its majority for the first time since apartheid ended 30 years ago.
The ANC, once led by Nelson Mandela, won 159 seats in the 400-seat parliament in Wednesday’s election, down from 230 in the previous assembly.
According to the BBC, although Ramaphosa described the results as a victory for democracy, he called on rival parties to find common ground – apparently preparing for coalition talks.
Ramaphosa said, “Our people have spoken, whether we like it or not, they have spoken.
“As the leaders of political parties, as all those who occupy positions of responsibility in society, we have heard the voices of our people and we must respect their wishes.”
“Through their votes, they have demonstrated clearly and plainly that our democracy is strong and it is enduring,” he said, adding that the voters wanted the parties to find common ground.
The opposition Democratic Alliance (DA) party has said it is open to coalition talks with Mr Ramaphosa, but it opposes a number of his government’s key priorities.With all the votes counted, the ANC finished on 40% – down from 58% at the previous election, the electoral commission announced on Sunday.
This was lower than the party’s feared worst-case scenario of 45%, analysts said. The ANC now must go into a coalition to form the next government.
South Africa’s political parties have two weeks to work out a coalition deal, then the new parliament will sit to choose a president.
