Corruption, the coronavirus epidemic (nearly 90,000 deaths to date), endemic unemployment, repeated power cuts, nothing is working in the Rainbow country, and the ANC (African National Congress ), President Cyril Ramaphosa’s party is in the eye of the storm.
Since 1994, and the end of apartheid, Nelson Mandela’s party has never wavered during elections, local or national. But with each electoral meeting, its undivided domination crumbles more. The latest escapades of former President Zuma, imprisoned and on trial for corruption, risk weakening the party’s weight a little more.
In 2016, the ANC won 54% of the vote, but lost big cities like Johannesburg (taken over during a change of alliance) or Pretoria. However, according to polls, the Party could this time lose the majority in terms of votes.
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Cyril Ramaphosa himself has stepped into the arena to convince voters that the ANC remains a good choice. “This time, we want municipalities that work for our communities”, does he have launched to the crowd who came to listen to him during a passage in the region of Mangaung (center). “And we don’t want thieves”, he added. A declaration in the form of a confession when the ANC manages most of the 278 cities of South Africa.
In a country which in essence votes little. 26 million registered voters, for nearly 57 million inhabitants (55% women), reveal that a third of the inhabitants of voting age are not registered, and abstention risks being expensive for the ANC. “We have been voting for a long time now, we are waiting for change, and nothing is happening”, launches an inhabitant to AFP.
Comments that we hear over and over in the underprivileged classes. “The ANC failed miserably”, accuses an unemployed person on the site Le Journal Info. “After 1994, they promised us heaven on earth. We’re still waiting. They make empty promises. Look, I’m 60 years old and I can’t even remember the last time I had a job. “
But disaffection with the ANC does not necessarily mean a tidal wave of the opposition. It is divided into several parties which must go through coalitions to succeed in seizing the cities. The main party, the Democratic Alliance (DA), is perceived as a party of whites, which hinders its progress. In addition, there is a large number of independent candidates (1,700 out of 60,000) who are out of the ban of their parties due to disillusionment. So many candidates who will cause a scattering of votes advantageous for the ANC.
10,000 soldiers will be deployed until Wednesday, November 3 across the country, to guarantee security during municipal elections and ensure the smooth running of voting operations. 300 areas have been classified as high risk, in provinces such as Gauteng (Pretoria, Johannesburg), Kwazulu-Natal (Durban), the Eastern and Western Cape.