South Africans are about to experience a momentous change in the post-1994 election.
This, as ANC struggles to get 50% of the vote, as the counting continues.
The ANC circles around the forties’ margin, and has been on the brink of losing its majority for the first time since assuming power under Nelson Mandela at the end of apartheid in 1994.
The party has been dominant for the past 30 years of SA’s young democracy.
The ANC has enjoyed the support of the majority in the country as it was the political organisation that was best known by the electorate.
However, South Africans found an alternative organisation in the formation of the MK Party, which has been seen to eat away at a chunk of the votes of both the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) and the ANC.
As things stand, the governing party is likely to secure the majority, but it may be forced to form a coalition to remain in the government.
On Thursday, the Council for scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) predicted the ANC would get below 50% which would lead to talks on coalition.
The CSIR suggested that the only possible partner the ANC would get into in bed with was the Democratic Alliance (DA).
However, the party’s federal chairperson, Helen Zille, told independent Media that a DA-ANC coalition was impractical.
“We should not even be talking about this; the law doesn’t allow that. It’s even a theoretical question,” Zille commented.
The party’s leader, John Steenhuisen, has been quoted saying his organisation was not in coalition talks, adding that they needed to wait for the results to end before they could start with any major discussions on the issue.
“Our first port of call is going to be with my Multi-Party Charter conference,” Steenhuisen added.
Speaking with media on Thursday, Zille said the DA would do anything possible to stop a coalition between the ANC and EFF, or uMkhonto weSizwe (MK) parties.
“The coalition between those parties would spook investors. It would tank the economy it would be a disaster for SA. So we are very committed to prevent that outcome,” she remarked.
MK was showing the ANC flames in KwaZulu-Natal, Gauteng and Mpumalanga, making it a potential coalition partner for any of the bigger parties.
During his walk-about on Thursday at Results Operation Centre (ROC), Steenhuisen blamed his party’s poor performance on the media.
Mantashe also attributed the MK’s good performance in KZN on tribalism.
He further said that he was not surprised by the MK’s results in KwaZulu-Natal.
“I don’t think we should lock ourselves into Zulu tribalism. Tribalism is a backward form of politics; it has its time frame and then disappears. If that is the factor… I am not worried,” said Mantashe.
The Star