Support for South Africa’s ruling African National Congress (ANC), in power since 1994, has fallen below 50 percent ahead of next year’s general election, according to a new poll.
The party led by Nelson Mandela is likely to win 45 percent of the vote next year, compared to 31 percent for the Democratic Alliance (DA), the main opposition party, according to a Social Research Foundation (SRF) poll.
Such an outcome could see the ruling party lose its overall majority in parliament.
“The data reveals that the ANC’s support levels appear to have declined somewhat,” SRF said in a report.
Support for the ANC fell from 52 percent in March, according to the poll, which is based on interviews with more than 1,400 “geographically and demographically” representative registered voters conducted in October.
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DA support has risen from 24 per cent over the same period.
If the election were tomorrow, South Africa’s third-largest party, the left-wing Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) would garner about 9 percent of the vote, according to the South African think tank survey.
Earlier this week, South Africa’s electoral commission said the vote would be held between May and August next year.
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The image of the ANC is broken and tarnished by corruption, nepotism and a lackluster financial record.
The party has never won less than 50 percent of the vote in a national election since the advent of democracy three decades ago.
But party membership has fallen by more than 30 percent in the past five years, according to an organizational report presented at the party’s convention in December.
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The DA, a liberal party, in July announced a coalition with six smaller groups in a bid to oust the ANC from power.
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