South Africa’s ANC Faces Struggle Over Unity Government Decision

Sinah Molokwane, a lifelong member of South Africa‘s ruling African National Congress, is struggling to accept that her party will be sharing power for the first time since it ended white minority rule 30 years ago.

ANC leaders gathered on Thursday on potential partners for a coalition after voters angered by economic stagnation, high unemployment, crime, and power blackouts ended a majority it has held since 1994, leaving it little choice but to try and forge a coalition with its rivals.

It could bring in parties as diverse as the Marxist Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) and the pro-business, white-led DA.

But for many ANC rank and file members, the prospect of an alliance including the DA is unpalatable, reflecting divisions within the party’s factions over who to partner with.

Sinah Molokwane, a 52-year-old resident of Johannesburg‘s Soweto township and a member of the ANC’s women’s league, expressed concern about the potential coalition partners and specifically hoped it would not be the DA.

Outside the ANC’s leaders’ meeting, a small group of people demonstrated with yellow signs reading ‘Not in Our Names. NotWithTheDA.’

A deal with the DA is favored by the business community and global investors, but some ANC supporters see it as a potential throwback to South Africa’s painful past.

Rosebella Joyi, a 90-year-old ANC supporter from East London, voiced concerns about the white minority running the country again after apartheid.

In a country where white South Africans make up just 7% of the population of 62 million, the DA has strived to shake off an image as a party of white privilege – a notion that its leaders firmly reject.

The Western Cape, the province the DA has controlled since 2009, has shown better economic performance than the rest of South Africa.

It boasts the country’s lowest jobless rate, with Cape Town being a major tourist destination and experiencing fewer power cuts compared to other areas.

Despite the economic stability in Cape Town, some ANC supporters like Virginia Hili, 58, from East London, remain wary of potential concessions the ANC might make to the DA for their support in a coalition.

Mindful of alienating its support base, the ANC indicated a preference for a government of national unity involving several parties, despite viewing it as a less stable alliance unlikely to last long.

Interactions with the DA for a narrower coalition were immediately ruled out by the ANC’s leadership.

The ANC will have 159 seats out of 400 in the new National Assembly, while the DA will have 87.

The populist uMkhonto we Sizwe, led by former president Jacob Zuma, will have 58 seats, the EFF 39, the socially conservative Inkatha Freedom Party 17, and the far-right Patriotic Alliance 9.

All of these potential partners present complications for the ANC, from the complexities surrounding Jacob Zuma to the policy proposals of the EFF and the political history of the DA.

Political analysts suggest that the EFF, led by Julius Malema, may align more naturally with the ANC, though the party’s radical policy proposals could pose economic risks.

The bitter feuds between Malema and the ANC could also lead to potential instability in a government involving the EFF, as highlighted by ANC supporter Sinah Molokwane.

As ANC weighs its options and navigates the intricacies of potential alliances, the political landscape in South Africa remains in flux with uncertainty over the formation of a coalition government.