(4 minutes read)
- The final round of polls of South Africa local elections will be held next Monday
- The African National Congress (ANC) is struggling to get a positive mandate from the people
- A new wave of blackouts rolled across the country may deny the party an easy ride in the election.
The final round of polls of South Africa local elections will be held next Monday. The African National Congress (ANC) is struggling to get a positive mandate from the people. A new wave of blackouts rolled across the country may deny the party an easy ride in the election.
Unemployment has hit a record 34.4 percent. This was compounded by the political infight within the ANC. Social unrest had left 354 dead and hammered the economy. The ANC has governed South Africa since the advent of democracy 27 years ago. It is possible that a good number of voters may turn against the ruling party driven by present insurmountable problems being faced by the country, according to political analysts. The predominant view is that the ruling party did not deliver enough.
ANC is not lying low. President Cyril Ramaphosa and other leaders have hit the campaign trail and visiting even smaller towns. But the rampant power cuts in the country are taking their toll on the popular perception. To add to the woes, chaos within the ANC has dampened its fundraising. A poor show of the party can accentuate the dissensions within the party. In the last local elections in 2016, the ANC won just under 54 percent of the vote.
The largest opposition party, the Democratic Alliance, is seen as a party for whites but formed coalitions with the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF). There are a record number of independents in the fray making the prediction of the voting results almost impossible. ANC can rely on the ground reality that there is no viable opposition and there is only a loosely knot coalition, which may have totally different political ideologies.
