(4 Minutes Read)
The ANC won six successive national elections, starting with the one that made Mandela the first Black president in 1994. But from a high of gaining nearly 70% of the vote 20 years ago, it has experienced a steady decline in support while South Africa grapples with deep socio-economic problems, some of which were left over from apartheid.
This national election will not be as momentous as the one South Africa held in 1994. Then, Nelson Mandela led the African National Congress party to victory as Black South Africans who were the majority (80%) were allowed to vote for the first time. It officially ended a half-century of racial segregation under apartheid — a violently enforced system that attracted the world’s outrage — and hundreds of years of white minority rule.
But while the ANC still governs in 2024, it is amid rising discontent caused largely by high levels of unemployment and poverty. That could result in a majority of South Africans choosing another party this week over the one that led them to freedom.
The possible repercussions are complex because while several polls have the ANC’s support at less than 50%, suggesting it is in danger of losing its majority for the first time, no opposition party has risen to a position to overtake it. The ANC is still widely expected to be the largest party, well ahead of an increasing number of opposition movements that are splitting the disaffected vote.
The ANC won six successive national elections, starting with the one that made Mandela the first Black president in 1994. But from a high of gaining nearly 70% of the vote 20 years ago, it has experienced a steady decline in support while South Africa grapples with deep socio-economic problems, some of which were left over from apartheid.
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https://trendsnafrica.com/south-african-elections-the-changing-political-landscape/
The ANC has also been criticized for the corruption scandals that have plagued it and for not tackling the country’s violent crime problem. There was an average of 83 homicides a day in the last three months of 2023. A failure in basic government services impacts many in the country of 62 million, with communities, towns, and parts of major cities going without water and electricity.
