What happens next in South Africa after ANC loses majority?
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What happens next in South Africa after ANC loses majority?
JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - For the first time in South Africa's democratic era, the African National Congress (ANC) will have to seek one or more coalition partners to govern with after it fell well short of a majority in last week's national election.
Here are scenarios of what could happen next in South Africa and which parties the ANC might partner with:
WILL RAMAPHOSA GET OUSTED?
The ANC won just 40% of votes, by far its worst result since democratic elections began in 1994 after the end of apartheid and leaving it short of a majority in parliament.
Some political analysts say this could lead to party leader and South Africa's president, Cyril Ramaphosa, having to step down, as he comes out of the election badly weakened. But ANC leaders said on Sunday the party would not bend to pressure from other political forces to ditch him.
"That is a no-go area," Fikile Mbalula, the party's secretary general, told a press briefing.
Over the past four electoral cycles the ANC's share of the vote gradually dropped, but never by more than five percentage points from one election to the next.
If Ramaphosa survives the voters' backlash, he would carry on at least for a while to broker a coalition deal with another party in a bid to secure a parliamentary majority, though analysts say he may struggle to serve for a second full term.
Tipped as potential successors are other ANC politicians such as Deputy President Paul Mashatile or Gwede Mantashe, currently in charge of the mines and energy ministry.
Vote tallying in this week's South African parliamentary election entered the final stages on Saturday, with the governing African National Congress set to fall short of a majority for the first time in 30 years of democracy.
