The briefing was supposed to have been held by ANC greater Johannesburg chairperson, Parks Tau, whose position as mayor in the metro now hangs in the balance as the party failed to reach 50% of the vote in the elections.
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The Democratic Alliance started as a liberal white party opposing the apartheid regime from within the racist system but has expanded its support among black South Africans. Neither party appeared to be winning a majority in those two cities that would allow it to govern alone, raising the possibility of coalition governments.
DA’s first black leader Mmusi Maimane on Saturday claimed victory on the national executive capital of Tshwane (Pretoria).
The ANC has ruled South Africa since the end of apartheid in 1994, but it faces growing threats from the left, from the right, and from within the party itself. But its grip on power is being shaken against the backdrop of high unemployment, a stagnating economy and a series of scandals that have dogged President Jacob Zuma.
South African rapper AKA posted that the vote would make the ANC “more efficient, stronger and better”. “This time round, though, it’s not enough”, the Mail & Guardian newspaper said in an editorial.
However, Zuma, jailed on Robben Island with Mandela during apartheid, retains deep loyalty inside the ANC and in many rural areas, although he can not stand for a third term.
“These elections were hotly contested, that is how it should be in a democracy”, he said.
“Let us get back to work and build our country together”.
This defeat comes on top of the ANC conceding on Friday its loss in Port Elizabeth, a key battleground of the municipal election.
The Democratic Alliance, which has roots in the anti-apartheid movement and had a white party leader until previous year, won Nelson Mandela Bay after fielding a white candidate for mayor.
South Africa’s main opposition opposition Democratic Alliance said on Sunday it was seeking coalition partners to run major cities including the capital and business centre Johannesburg after defeating the ruling ANC in local polls.
A year ago it elected its first black leader, Mmusi Maimane, as it tried to shake off an image of a party mainly serving white interests. He added that “the idea that his party was a white one has been ‘completely shattered'”.
Former South African President Nelson Mandela who passed away on December 5, 2013.
Deputy President Cyril Ramaphosa told reporters it was too early to analyze the election results, saying it would be like reading “somebody’s tombstone before they die”.
The ANC so far has received 53% of votes across the country, its lowest percentage ever, with the Democratic Alliance getting 26%.
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The radical leftist Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) party led by Julius Malema, Zuma’s one-time protege but now arch-foe, was running a distant third with about 10 per cent of the vote.
