As final votes were counted, the ANC was leading in economic powerhouse Johannesburg by a slim margin.
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The ANC and DA are now neck and neck in the race to secure control over Johannesburg, South Africa’s largest city.
Although the ANC remains the dominant party in South Africa today, its leadership is unfortunately held by Mr Zuma, who has tarnished its image and shamed the legacy of Mr Mandela and the many other courageous South Africans who fought for the freedoms that the once oppressed people of that country now enjoy.
This time, it has been challenged by corruption scandals and a stagnant economy that has frustrated the urban middle class, while protests in poor communities demanding basics like electricity and water have been common.
The opposition Democratic Alliance took 43 percent of the vote in the municipality the city sits in, to the ANC’s 41 percent.
The opposition Democratic Alliance, which has roots in the anti-apartheid movement and was white-led until past year, has predicted victory in Tshwane.
The DA, which previous year elected its first black leader, Mmusi Maimane, as part of a drive to shake off its image as a party that mainly serves white interests, retained control of Cape Town, which it has held since 2006.
The election results have highlighted the declining popularity of the party that led South Africa’s anti-apartheid struggle. Chances are good that soon – possibly in the next general election in 2019 – the party will fall below the majority mark, ushering in a new era of genuine competition and a more healthy democracy. With 95 percent of votes counted the ruling ANC appears to.
“Its share [The ANC] of the vote in local elections sank to 55 per cent in a humiliation for President Jacob Zuma‚ who has survived a number of scandals and been blamed by many for overseeing a corrupt administration that has betrayed the party’s core principles”.
Mr Cyril Ramaphosa, the ANC deputy leader, has said the party would heed the electorate’s message.
Malema has drawn support with promises to redistribute among poor black people wealth still mostly in white hands – policies that both the DA and the ANC have not found palatable. The South African economy has stagnated since the global financial crisis in 2008, and the World Bank says the country has one of the highest rates of inequality in the world.
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In other words, the election was a timely reminder to the ANC that vast numbers of South Africans are disillusioned with political corruption, cronyism, limited opportunities – and rich elites that are creating internal convulsions. AP material published by LongIsland.com, is done so with explicit permission. “People look around after more than 20 years of one-person‚ one-vote and see that opportunities have gone to some‚ while many others are still on the sidelines”.
