African National Congress - The African Mirror

Mar

2024

South Africa’s main opposition party not ruling out deal with ANC

SOUTH Africa's second most popular party the Democratic Alliance (DA) would not rule out a deal with the ruling African National Congress should the ANC fail to get the majority it needs to retain power in May elections, its leader said. Pollsters expect the ANC to lose its legislative majority on May 29 for the first time since Nelson Mandela took power at the end of apartheid 30 years ago, with voters unhappy with poor service delivery, joblessness, crime and power cuts. If that happens, President Cyril Ramaphosa or a successor for the top job would be unable to stay on without…

Mar

2024

By OLIVIA KUMWENDA-MTAMBO and NELLIE PEYTON

South Africa’s ANC wary of post-election coalition, says it ‘won’t work’

NEWS

SOUTH Africa's ruling African National Congress (ANC) party is betting on retaining its parliamentary majority in a May election and is not in talks with other parties on a possible coalition government, the party's deputy secretary general said. South Africans will go to polls on May 29 to elect a new National Assembly, which will then choose the next president. "We will not go to war having accepted defeat. We are going to war to win," ANC veteran Nomvula Mokonyane told Reuters in an interview, adding that the party was aware that "stakes are high because not everybody is comfortable…

Mar

2024

By OLIVIA KUMWENDA-MTAMBO

South Africa’s ANC likely to lose parliamentary majority in May vote, survey shows

NEWS

SOUTH Africa's African National Congress (ANC) is likely to lose its parliamentary majority in May for the first time since Nelson Mandela led it to power at the fall of apartheid 30 years ago, a survey showed, opening up the prospect of coalition rule. South Africans go to polls on May 29 to elect a new National Assembly, which will then choose the next president. A survey of voter opinion in February by Johannesburg-based think tank The Brenthurst Foundation and the SABI Strategy Group estimated support for the ANC at 39%, down from 41% in October and 44% in November…

Feb

2024

By The African Mirror

South Africa’s governing ANC promises ‘better life’ at manifesto launch

NEWS

SOUTH Africa's Cyril Ramaphosa said that his party, the African National Congress (ANC), would build on the successes of the last three decades and work to resolve the country's challenges of high unemployment, crime and poverty should it win decisively at the polls. Ramaphosa outlined his party's six priority areas at its election manifesto launch in Durban, a coastal city in the eastern province of KwaZulu-Natal. Recent polls suggest the ANC is at risk of losing its parliamentary majority in the May 29 election for the first time since Nelson Mandela led the country through its first democratic elections at…

Feb

2024

By ANAIT MIRIDZHANIAN

South Africa to hold national and provincial elections on May 29

NEWS

SOUTH Africa will hold national and provincial elections on May 29, President Cyril Ramaphosa's office said. The elections are expected to be the most competitive since the end of the apartheid system. Political analysts widely predict that the governing African National Congress (ANC) party will lose its parliamentary majority for the first time since 1994, with record power cuts, poor service delivery and high levels of unemployment among voter complaints. South Africans will elect a new National Assembly as well as the provincial legislature in each of the country's nine provinces before the National Assembly elects the president. Ramaphosa, 71,…

Feb

2024

By THOKO SIPUNGU

Women in South Africa’s armed struggle: new book records history at first hand

LITERATURE

SOUTH Africa’s young democracy was a culmination of years of sweat, blood and revolution against the apartheid regime. In the early 1960s, after decades of “non-violence” as a policy of resistance, the African National Congress (ANC) and Pan Africanist Congress (PAC) formed military wings to take the fight to the apartheid regime. THOKO SIPUNGU, Lecturer in Sociology, Rhodes University Based on the living record and popular discourse, it would be easy to assume that the struggle against apartheid was almost entirely the domain of men. But women played a crucial role – one which is only really coming to light…

Feb

2024

By KEITH GOTTSCHALK

South African president Cyril Ramaphosa aims for upbeat tone in annual address, but fails to impress a jaundiced electorate

THOUGHT LEADERSHIP

THIS year’s State of the Nation Address – delivered annually in February by South Africa’s president – was bound to be stuffed with electioneering messages and slogans. The country goes to the polls any time between May and August and there was no doubt that Cyril Ramaphosa would use the occasion to burnish the governing African National Congress’s reputation. KEITH GOTTSCHALK, Political Scientist, University of the Western Cape That’s indeed what he did. The upcoming elections are the most significant since the country became a democracy in 1994. Numerous opinion polls suggest the ANC will fall below 50% of the…

Feb

2024

By NELLIE PEYTON and BHARGAV ACHARYA

South Africa’s Ramaphosa touts ANC history in State of Nation address

NEWS

SOUTH Africa's President Cyril Ramaphosa used a major speech in parliament to play up his party's achievements over the last 30 years but gave little detail about his plans to address the country's current major challenges. Ramaphosa's African National Congress (ANC) party, which has governed since Nelson Mandela led it to victory in the first post-apartheid democratic election in 1994, is heading into its most competitive campaign yet. Many polls indicate it will lose its absolute parliamentary majority in a vote expected to be held between May and August, forcing it to choose a coalition party to hold onto power.…

Jan

2024

By NELLIE PEYTON

South Africa’s ruling ANC suspends membership of ex-leader Zuma

NEWS

SOUTH Africa's ruling African National Congress (ANC) said that it had suspended the membership of former president Jacob Zuma after he announced he would vote for another party in this year's general election. Zuma, whose nine years in office from 2009 were marked by corruption scandals and sluggish economic growth, said last month he would campaign for the new uMkhonto we Sizwe (MK) party in the vote, which is expected between May and August. His suspension reflects deep-seated divisions in the party of liberation hero Nelson Mandela that has governed South Africa since the end of apartheid. Analysts say this year's election…

Jan

2024

By The African Mirror

The two faces of Jacob Zuma – former South African president campaigns to unseat the ANC he once led. Who supports him and why?

THOUGHT LEADERSHIP

FORMER South African president Jacob Zuma’s political comeback builds on support from marginalised and angry constituencies within or close to the governing African National Congress (ANC). His vengeful but “loyal” rebellion against the ANC resonates with these political constituencies. SUSAN BOOYSEN, Visiting Professor and Professor Emeritus, University of the Witwatersrand In mid-December 2023, Zuma announced that he would be supporting the newly formed uMkhonto weSizwe Party (MK Party), rather than the ANC, in the upcoming national election. But he would not resign from the ANC. Umkhonto we Sizwe is the name of the ANC’s former guerrilla army. This latest assault…