Category: Politics

{South Africa’s governing African National Congress (ANC) has suffered its worst electoral setback since apartheid ended in 1994.}

With 99% of the votes counted after Wednesday’s municipal elections, the party has lost the key battleground of Nelson Mandela Bay to the opposition Democratic Alliance (DA).
The two parties are in a close fight for Johannesburg and Pretoria.

But the ANC is still in the lead nationally, with 54% of the vote.

The ANC has had the main share of the vote in South Africa since the end of apartheid more than two decades ago.

Unemployment and corruption scandals surrounding President Jacob Zuma have tarnished the party’s image.

The local elections are being seen as an indication of his mid-term popularity.

Mr Zuma will be present when the results are officially announced on Saturday evening, at 18:00 local time (16:00 GMT).

Named after ANC liberation hero and South Africa’s first democratically elected president, the loss of Nelson Mandela Bay is a big blow to the party.

Many of the leaders of the struggle against apartheid come from the area.

The DA, which took 46.5% compared to the ANC’s 41% in Nelson Mandela Bay, says it is in talks with other parties to form a coalition in the municipality on South Africa’s southern coast.

Its leader Mmusi Maimane said Nelson Mandela Bay had voted for change.

“I think that to me says that our message got through – it says our people heard us and South Africans still believe in a dream of a non-racial South Africa, South Africans still want our country to prosper,” he said.

The ANC has conceded defeat in Nelson Mandela Bay after initially saying it was going to challenge the result.

Deputy President Cyril Ramaphosa promised the party would learn from the experience: “They think that we are arrogant, they think that we are self-centred, they think that we are self-serving, and I’d like to dispute all of that and say we are a listening organisation.”

It looks like no party will win an outright majority in the economic hubs of Johannesburg or Tshwane, which includes the capital, Pretoria, and coalition negotiations are already underway.

BBC South Africa analyst Farouk Chothia says the ANC’s urban vote has collapsed with both black middle and working classes switching to DA.

It is a historic moment showing the extent to which people are fed up with corruption and the ANC’s failure to deliver on its promises, he says.

The municipal election result is probably the biggest wake-up call the governing ANC has received since it ushered in democracy in South Africa in 1994.

Clearly the ANC still commands huge support across the country but that support is waning. It can no longer take it for granted that the black majority will blindly follow it.
The best example is in the Nelson Mandela Bay municipality, won by the DA, which has a rich history of anti-apartheid struggle. Its new DA mayor is Athol Trollip, who is white.

Twenty-two years after the end of apartheid, black people are now voting on issues and not on race. Mr Trollip, who speaks fluent Xhosa, would not be where he is if the vast majority of black people had not voted for him.

{{Grey line}}

Final results are expected later on Friday.

By Friday mid-morning, the ANC had 54%, followed by 26% for the DA and 8% for the radical Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF).

The Inkatha Freedom Party has boosted its support slightly, holding on to parts of KwaZulu-Natal state.

Correspondents say a poor ANC performance could embolden Mr Zuma’s rivals within the party to challenge him.

The next general elections are due in 2019 but Mr Zuma cannot stand for a third term as president.

South Africa’s economy has also been one of the main issues for voters, with growth expected to be zero this year, and unemployment standing at 27%.

Protests demanding better housing and amenities have sprung up across South Africa.

Mr Zuma has also had to weather a corruption scandal, after being ordered to repay taxpayers’ money spent on his private home.

Security was tight for the elections and the electoral commission said voting had passed off smoothly.

{ANC was ahead nationwide but it recorded its worst electoral performance.}

South Africa’s local elections delivered a sharp setback to the African National Congress (ANC) on Thursday, as partial results showed falling support for the party that ended apartheid.

With about 80 per cent of the vote counted, the ANC was ahead nationwide but it recorded its worst electoral performance since white-minority rule fell 22 years ago.

The main opposition Democratic Alliance (DA) was on course to hold Cape Town and was just ahead in the coastal city of Port Elizabeth.

The capital Pretoria and the economic hub Johannesburg were a close fight between the DA and the ANC.

The results, which were expected to be concluded on Friday, open up a new era of local coalition politics in South Africa.

The ANC has won more than 60 per cent of the vote at every election since the country’s first multi-racial vote in 1994 when Nelson Mandela was sworn in as president.

On Thursday evening it was on 54 per cent — down from 62 per cent in the last municipal elections in 2011.

The DA was on 27 per cent with the radical leftist Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) on seven percent, according to official results.

“The ANC is really losing ground, but it can join other political parties to form coalitions,” Shadrack Gutto, director the Centre for African Renaissance Studies at the University of South Africa, told AFP.

“The politics of the country are changing at the local level and that will escalate come the general election in 2019.”

Wednesday’s vote was also a judgement on President Jacob Zuma, who has been plagued by a series of scandals since taking office in 2009.

UNEMPLOYMENT

An unemployment rate of 27 per cent and GDP growth at zero per cent this year have also eaten into his popularity.

“We have grown incredibly in several places, I’m quite happy,” Mmusi Maimane, the DA’s first black leader, told reporters.

He ruled out any local coalition deals with ANC, saying: “We can’t campaign for change, and then team up with them.”

Millions of voters had queued outside polling stations after an occasionally bitter campaign marked by disputes over alleged racial slurs.

A final Ipsos survey had placed the ANC and DA neck and neck in key cities after some undecided voters drifted back to the ruling party.

“Democracy is maturing so you will find… a dilution where you might not have very strong support for one party,” ANC treasurer Zweli Mkhize said as results were still being announced.

“We still remain quite positive.”

Both the ANC and DA will be likely to court smaller parties and independent candidates to cobble together majorities in some municipal areas.

“There has been a sharp, record swing away from the ANC towards DA and EFF,” Peter Montalto of Nomura Bank said in a note.

“The metros remain too close to call, but it looks likely that the DA will take Nelson Mandela Bay (Port Elizabeth) and the ANC will keep Johannesburg.”

Contesting its first local poll after bursting onto the scene in the 2014 general election, the far-left EFF may emerge in the influential role of kingmaker.

The party, which won six percent of the national vote in 2014, advocates land redistribution without compensation and the nationalisation of mines.

Turnout was about 58 per cent as voters chose mayors and other local representatives responsible for hot-button issues including water, sanitation and power supplies.

Problems providing such basics trigger regular and sometimes violent “service delivery” protests in South Africa, where harsh socio-economic divisions remain a grim legacy of the apartheid era.

Zuma, 74, has faced increasing calls to step down before his second term ends in 2019 but he retains deep loyalty within the ANC party and in rural parts of the country.

{Youssef Chahed, the prime minister-designate, warns Tunisians to brace themselves for “exceptional sacrifices”.}

Tunisia’s President Beji Caid Essebsi has named Youssef Chahed as prime minister after parliament ousted Habib Essid in a vote of no-confidence because of his handling of economic reforms and security.

Chahed, 41, a former minister for local affairs, announced the appointment himself on Wednesday, warning Tunisians to brace themselves for “exceptional sacrifices”.

“The president has put me in charge of the national unity government. This is a message of confidence for young people also,” Chahed said. “In this delicate time we need a lot of audacious decisions.”

Essebsi had been pushing for a new national unity government in an attempt to overcome political infighting in the ruling coalition and more efficiently tackle economic reforms and the security threat.

Chahed dismissed reports he had any family ties to Essebsi, responding to opposition charges that he was a distant relative of the president.

The nomination was likely to be approved by a parliamentary vote, as required.

The parliament has a month to do so, but the vote could come sooner. Chahed said he could start consultations to form a new government on Wednesday.

He said the government would be a “government of youths” with more female ministers than the three in the outgoing cabinet and favouring no one party.

“Today, we enter into a new stage that demands efforts and exceptional sacrifices and boldness to find out-of-the-box solution to the nation’s problems,” Chahed said. “We will speak frankly to the people about the reality of the country’s financial and economic situation.”

Chahed, setting out priorities, said the first is the war on “terrorism”.

Hope in the future

The North African nation wedged between Algeria and Libya, suffered two major attacks last year – at a beach resort and the well-known Bardo Museum – that killed around 60 people, mainly tourists.

He said fighting corruption should be another priority, along with increasing growth to create jobs. Growth is currently hovering at zero. He singled out the nation’s youths, saying they “must not lose hope in the future”.

Since its 2011 revolution to oust Zine El Abidine Ben Ali, Tunisia has grown into a democracy praised as a model for the region.

But security issues have tested the government and political infighting has slowed economic progress needed to ease social tensions especially among ranks of young employed.

{Outcome to reveal whether long-ruling political party is losing ground to the main opposition DA and the far-left EEF.}

South African municipal election results will reveal whether the African National Congress (ANC) is losing its grip on power two decades after the end of apartheid.

The ANC has won more than 60 percent of the vote at every election since Nelson Mandela was sworn in as the country’s first black president in 1994.

But 22 years after the fall of white-minority rule, a faltering economy, rampant corruption and high unemployment have eaten into the party’s popularity.

Voters braved cold weather to queue outside polling stations on Wednesday, bringing an end to a campaign marked by disputes over alleged racial slurs.

Counting was under way on Thursday after South Africa’s electoral commission said voting proceeded smoothly and without major incident.

Polls leading up to the vote had the main opposition Democratic Alliance (DA), which controls Cape Town, defeating the ANC in the capital Pretoria, Johannesburg and Port Elizabeth.

A final Ipsos survey earlier this week placed the ANC slightly ahead, as previously undecided voters climbed down from the fence.

Al Jazeera’s Tania Page, reporting from Johannesburg, said: “This election is expected to be the closest one ever. The ANC’s steady decline could be at a tipping point in several important metropolitan areas.”

Smaller parties’ role

Both the ANC and DA will probably find themselves forced to court smaller parties and independent candidates to piece together outright municipal majorities.

Contesting its first local election after it appeared on the scene before the 2014 general vote, the far-left Economic Freedom Fighters may find itself playing kingmaker.

A record 26.3 million people registered to choose mayors and other local representatives responsible for crucial issues including water, sanitation and power supplies.

The local vote is also seen as a mid-term reflection on the performance of the ANC and the leadership of President Jacob Zuma, who has been plagued by scandals since he took office in 2009.

Even if the ANC maintains its hold on power through inter-party alliances, any overall drop in support would be a loss, say analysts.