Afrique du Sud : Le gouvernement d’union nationale sur les rails

South Africa: The national unity government on track

The leader of the ANC, Cyril Ramaphosa, is back under surveillance.

Cyril Ramaphosa, 71, the head of the African National Congress (ANC), was re-elected as president of South Africa on Friday June 14. He obtained 283 votes, far ahead of the other candidate Julius Malema, of the radical left party EFF, who obtained 44 votes.

On May 29, during these legislative elections, the party dear to Nelson Mandela recorded the worst score in its 30-year-old political history, with a decline of almost 17%, barely exceeding 40% of the votes, losing at the same time 71 seats and an absolute majority which had been its trademark since the end of apartheid and the advent of Mandela in 1994.

The ANC therefore saves appearances by retaining the presidency of the Republic but nothing will ever be the same again for this party and for these leaders who will have to learn to share power with the Democratic Alliance (DA), a liberal formation that many of voters and members of the ANC still consider it too favorable to defending the interests of the white South African community.

South Africa: The ANC will have to share power

Keeping up appearances

In a desire not to give the impression of marrying into marriage with the DA, the ANC announced its desire to set up a government of national unity which would see the Inkatha Freedom Party, the Zulu nationalist party, enter the government. after lending his support to Ramaphosa’s re-election.

With its 40%, the ANC won 159 seats out of the 400 in the South African National Assembly. The Democratic Alliance, with its 21.5%, obtained 87 seats, Inkatha and its 3.5% only have 17 seats.

This means that this team has a comfortable majority of 253 seats out of the 400 in the National Assembly. This also means that the entry of Inkatha only serves the narrative of the ANC executives because the third thief of this future government will never be able to provide backup for one or the other training at the head of South Africa.

Condemn to agree

President Cyril Ramaphosa should be officially inaugurated this Wednesday during a ceremony in Pretoria, will therefore be forced to come to an agreement with his partner in the DA, of whom President John Steenhuisen has already warned: “South Africa has the highest unemployment rate in the world, one of the highest crime rates in the world, logistics circuits and infrastructure are in an advanced state of decline and corruption is endemic: none d “among us should not expect these problems to be resolved overnight”

South Africa: General elections full of dangers for the ANC

The members of the next executive announced the signing of an agreement which insists on respect for the South African constitution and provides a series of points to move towards the return of growth which must be “rapid, inclusive and sustainable”. The text also provides, according to an ANC source, the maintenance of a “social safety net”, an essential point for the ANC, while DA is favorable to liberal reforms. The two camps have therefore put water in their wine to reach an agreement, a new gymnastics for President Ramaphosa who will have to count on the fierce opposition of former President Zuma, his personal political enemy, but also on the anger of many of his members who point to his responsibility in the failure of the campaign and in the loss of 71 seats.

The first decisions of this new executive are also impatiently awaited in the DR Congo where South African troops are the main combatants against the M23 troops. The AD had been hostile to this deployment, while many members of the ANC denounced the sending as a personal decision by Ramaphosa. Weakened, the president will be under pressure on this issue. If he were to revisit this deployment, the scenario of the war in eastern Congo could be very different.