South Africa’s ruling ANC party wins national election, but by its slimmest margin in 25 years

South Africa’s ruling African National Congress on Saturday marked its weakest victory in national elections in a quarter-century, while President Cyril Ramaphosa declared that the vote had given him and others “a firm mandate to build a better South Africa for all”.

With all votes counted, the ANC had 57.5 per cent, the electoral commission said. It was the worst-ever showing at the polls for the party of the late Nelson Mandela that has ruled since the end of the apartheid system of racial discrimination 25 years ago. The party won 62 per cent of the vote in 2014.

Voter turnout was another low at 65 per cent, reflecting the frustration of many South Africans after corruption scandals around the ANC that led former president Jacob Zuma to resign last year under party pressure. Turnout was 74 per cent in 2014.

Ramaphosa, a Mandela protégé, has vowed to clean up the rot and apologised to South Africans. But his new five-year term is threatened by Zuma allies within the ANC’s leadership, who could pressure the party to oust him from power.

Observers have said South Africa’s economy, the most developed in Sub-Saharan Africa, would be further weakened if Ramaphosa is removed by his own party. He narrowly won the party leadership in late 2017, weeks before Zuma was pushed out.

Ramaphosa’s image as a leader willing to rid the government of graft helped the ANC’s election showing, political analyst Karima Brown said. “It’s a departure from a president who faced continuous allegations of corruption,” she said.