ANC still claims victory from municipal elections
As it deals with a bruising defeat in the municipal elections, a humiliated African National Congress (ANC) has yet again conceded that it needs to shape up.
Voters have punished the party, causing its biggest upset yet. It’s now projected that the ANC will only manage under 50% of the total votes.
As the search for suitable coalition partners starts in earnest, the party said nothing was off the table but they would not force open closed doors.
This as ActionSA leader Herman Mashaba has openly rejected any partnership with the ANC.
The party’s Paul Mashatile said: “The coalitions are messy, yet the way voters voted have put us in that situation. I think we, in South Africa, should understand that work in that environment. Coalitions are messy if you start on the wrong foot.”
It’s a humbling admission for the governing party whose supporters have once again rejected it by staying away from the polls. Others chose new entrants to the political space.
Bruised and battered but still putting on a brave face, the ANC still wants to claim victory.
Leaders Jessie Duarte and Mashatile went to great pains on Wednesday afternoon to try convincing South Africans that its reduced majority across the country’s municipalities and metros was indeed a win.
Duarte insists the ANC did not emerge even weaker from these polls.
“Our numbers have gone down; we’ve given you the objective reasons why. That doesn’t make you a loser, that makes you a pragmatic party.”
Mashatile attempted to downplay the blow, flagging that in both Ekurhuleni and in the City of Johannesburg, the ANC governed through the assistance of smaller parties.
The ANC will now start planning on who to approach in order to form coalition governments.
A BLOODBATH FOR ANC IN GAUTENG
The ANC’s worst performance is most pronounced in the economic hub Gauteng.
It looks set to retain governing majority in only two municipalities, Lesedi and Merafong.
It’s a bloodbath for ANC Gauteng; in the 2011 local polls, they had received 61% but now they are fighting for survival not only in metros but in traditional strongholds as well.
ANC Gauteng chair David Makhura said: “We are not winning people back to the ANC, that is not enough.”
The failure to stem the decline in the country’s richest province is a source of panic for the ANC. The party has struggled to self-correct, with its renewal plans deepening divisions within the party.
Makhura said they couldn’t retreat.
The ANC now faces the mammoth task of convincing opposition parties to form coalition governments with them.
The ANC’s defeat does not necessarily translate into gains by the official opposition.
-EWN
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