By Karabo Ngoepe
South African President Cyril Ramaphosa on Sunday urged political parties in the country to respect the will of the people as the result of the 2024 general elections were announced.
Ramaphosa said South Africans had spoken and as the leaders of political parties, it was their responsibility to hear their voices and we must respect their wishes.
“And now, we are all called upon to recognise that the results of the election reflect the will of the people. What this election has made plain is that the people of South Africa expect their leaders to work together to meet their needs,” he said.
Ramaphosa added South Africans expected the parties for which they have voted to find common ground, to overcome their differences, to act and work together for the good of everyone.
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“Our people expect all parties to work together within the framework of our constitution and address whatever challenges we encounter peacefully and in accordance with the prescripts of our constitution and the rule of law,” he said.
His speech followed a heavy blow to his African National Congress (ANC) which for the first time in 30 years has failed to secure a majority vote.
The ANC could only manage 40 per cent of the overall votes, leaving it needing to work with other parties to form a coalition government.
The (ANC) won 159 out of 400 seats in the country’s National Assembly. In the previous election in 2019, the party had won 230 seats.
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ANC’s main challenger, the Democratic Alliance (DA), came second with 87 seats.
New kids on the block, uMkhonto we Sizwe (MK), led by former president Jacob Zuma, won 58 seats, while the Economic Freedom Fighters, came fourth with 39 seats.
Ramaphosa said each party emerged from this election with a mandate based on the commitments they each made to the electorate.
However, all the parties share an over-arching mandate, to work in partnership with each other and with society more broadly, to build a country that is inclusive, united and prosperous.
“As we take up our seats in Parliament and in the provincial legislatures let us appreciate that the seats we occupy do not belong to us. They belong to the people.
Whatever authority, whatever power, we are entrusted with must be exercised to advance the interests of the people,” he said.
The ruling party spent the majority of Sunday licking its wounds with ANC officials saying the party was humbled by the result and had “nothing to celebrate” but stood by Ramaphosa and said they would not bend to pressure for him to step down.
The poor showing has fuelled speculation that Ramaphosa’s days might be numbered, either due to the demands of a prospective coalition partner or as a result of an internal leadership challenge.
“That is a no-go area,” Fikile Mbalula, the ANC’s secretary general, told a press briefing, the party’s first since the polls.
“Did we commit mistakes? Yes, we did. In governance and everywhere else,” he said, adding that the ANC was now committed to forming a government “that is stable and that is able to govern effectively”.
The ANC’s leadership will meet on Tuesday to plot the path forward.
COSATU – South Africa’s largest trade union group and a major ANC ally – also rallied behind Ramaphosa.
“What’s key is that a coalition be led by the ANC and President Ramaphosa,” COSATU spokesman Matthew Parks said.
‘DOOMSDAY COALITION’
Before Wednesday’s vote, the ANC had won every national election by a landslide since 1994, but over the last decade, its support has waned.
The prospect of an ANC tie-up with either the EFF or MK has rattled South Africa’s business community and international investors, who would prefer a coalition that brings in the DA.
DA leader John Steenhuisen said on the party’s YouTube channel that it had named a team to begin talks with other parties with the aim of preventing such an alliance, which he called a “doomsday coalition”.
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“For the Democratic Alliance, burying our heads in the sand while South Africa faces its greatest threat since the dawn of democracy is not an option,” he said.
Local media reported that the DA could be open to entering a cooperation pact with the ANC, supporting it in key decisions in exchange for top jobs in Parliament. The IFP would also be part of such a deal.
“I would almost certainly think (the ANC) wouldn’t just go with the DA.
They would most probably go with somebody like the IFP as well just because of the perception that the DA is a very white party,” said Melanie Verwoerd, a political analyst. Additional reporting by Reuters
