South Africa announced its final election results on Sunday that confirmed no party won a majority and unprecedented coalition talks were beginning to find a way forward for Africa’s most advanced economy. President Cyril Ramaphosa immediately called on the parties in a speech to overcome their differences and find “common ground” to form the first national coalition government in the country’s young democracy.
Ramaphosa’s African National Congress party had already lost its 30-year majority after more than 99% of the vote was counted by Saturday and showed it could not break 50%. The ANC took about 40% of the vote in last week’s election in the final count, the largest percentage.
Without a majority he will need to agree a coalition with another party or parties for the first time to co-govern and re-elect Ramaphosa for a second term. South Africa’s national elections decide how many seats each party gets in parliament, and lawmakers elect the president later.
“The people have spoken to us,” Ramaphosa said. “Whether we like it or not, they have spoken. We have heard the voices of our people and we must respect their choices and wishes.”
“The people of South Africa expect their leaders to work together to meet their needs. This is the time for all of us to put South Africa first.”
The ANC was the party of Nelson Mandela and freed South Africa from the apartheid system of white minority rule in 1994. Since then it has ruled with a comfortable majority. This election saw an unprecedented drop in his support, with voters appearing to abandon the party over its failure to solve widespread poverty and extremely high levels of unemployment, as well as problems delivering basic government services to many in one nation of 62 years. million.
The ANC had said earlier on Sunday that it was starting its negotiations with all the major parties. More than 50 participated in the election and at least eight had significant shares of the vote.
ANC secretary-general Fikile Mbalula said the party was open to all negotiations, including with the main opposition Democratic Alliance, which has led the chorus of criticism of the ANC for years but is seen by many analysts as the most solid coalition choice for South Africa .
The DA won the second most votes with around 21%. the two parties would have a majority together and could govern. DA leader John Steenhuisen said his party had also started talks with other parties. The ANC won 159 seats in the 400-seat parliament, up from the 230 it won in the last election. The DA increased slightly to 87 seats.
There is some time pressure to move the coalition talks forward and minimize uncertainty as South Africa’s new parliament must meet for the first time and elect a president within 14 days of the election results being announced.
Ramaphosa is seeking a second and final term and Balula said his position as ANC leader is not in doubt despite the election result. Balula said the ANC would not consider former president Jacob Zuma’s MK Party demands that Ramaphosa step down as a condition for talks.
“No political party will dictate terms to us, the ANC. You will not… You come to us with this demand, forget (it),” Balula said.
But he said the ANC would not be arrogant. “The elections humbled us, brought us to where we are,” he said.
South Africa is a leading voice for its continent and the developing world on the world stage and is set to take over the presidency of the Group of 20 rich and developing countries later this year. They are the only African nation in this group.
“Everyone is looking to see if South Africa can weather the storm and come out the other side,” political analyst Oscar van Heerden told the eNCA news network.
Among several coalition options, the ANC could also join MK and the far-left Economic Freedom Fighters, although they have been seen as partners that would make investors nervous. Both have pledged to nationalize parts of South Africa’s economy, including gold and platinum mines, among the world’s biggest producers.
The DA has long said it will not work with the EFF and MK, calling them a “doomsday coalition” for South Africa. Steenhuisen reiterated that stance on Sunday in a nationally televised address, but said his party was opening talks with others and would approach them “with cool heads and open minds”.
Political analyst Van Heerden said an ANC-DA coalition would “potentially give stability”, but there were some within the ANC who would be opposed. Other smaller parties could get involved to dilute it and make it more palatable for the ANC, some commentators said.
“The DA has approached the ANC as the enemy for many, many years,” Van Heerden said. “The next few days will be a very difficult period. People should be mature behind closed doors.”
Magome and Imray write for the Associated Press. Imray reported from Cape Town, South Africa.