South Africans in the UK and other foreign countries voted ahead of the polls opening at home.
Benjamin Cremel/AFP via Getty Images.
The growing loss of support for the governing ANC raises the possibility of South Africa having its first national coalition government since 1994.
The Economic Freedom Fighters marked its 10th anniversary at the FNB Stadium in Johannesburg on 29 July 2023.
Guillem Sartorio/AFP via Getty Images
Opinions differ widely about the true character of the EFF and what it really stands for since it gained seats in parliament in 2014.
The African National Congress has lost electoral support but remains dominant.
Phill Magakoe / AFP via Getty Images.
Dissatisfied ANC voters were much more likely to switch their votes if they held positive views of an opposition party. However, the problem for the opposition is that few people held these views.
Loyalists of the ANC’s Radical Economic Transformation (RET) at the Olive Convention Centre in Durban.
Rajesh Jantilal/AFP via Getty Images
Despite its vagueness, the RET has become central to the contemporary ANC. It is destined to remain a powerful bloc within the party, and a constant constraint on Ramaphosa leadership.
The African National Congress is steadily losing dominance.
EFE-EPA/Kim Ludbrook
Any ruling party in South Africa has found it hard to maintain internal coherence and unity over an extended time span amid wide national diversity.
South Africans queue to vote in the 2021 local government elections in Centurion, Tshwane, Pretoria.
GCIS/Flickr
The election results raise the real possibility that the ANC could be looking at another defeat in the 2024 general elections.
South African President Cyril Ramaphosa on the campaign trail.
Gianluigi Guercia/AFP via Getty Images
Turnout was low. But not equally so across the board. Patterns show it was not a statement by all voters – it was a message from ANC supporters.
The Economic Freedom Fighters’s campaign emphasises national issues.
EFE-EPA/Nic Bothma
The 2021 election will define for citizens important aspects of South Africa’s political future. What is the governing ANC’s future, and what was the impact of President Ramaphosa on this election?
EFE-EPA/Stringer
The rise in political parties and the explosion in the number of independents means that it’s no longer simply a race among the three major parties.
Former Nelson Mandela Bay Mayor Athol Trollip, from the DA, third from left, and his deputy Mongameli Bobani, from the UDM, extreme right, help clean up a street in 2017.
by Werner Hills/Foto24/Gallo Images/Getty Images
South Africa’s political parties would do well to learn from Ireland, where the three largest political parties negotiated a coalition treaty that stipulated mechanisms for conflict resolution.
The governing party’s good performance may signal confidence in the leadership of President Cyril Ramaphosa.
EFE-EPA/Kim Ludbrook
Local government elections in South Africa have traditionally been characterised by low voter turnout.
South African Tourism
The stalemate in Tshwane is a manifestation of coalition arrangements that serve the partisan interests of parties, to the detriment of citizens.
Farmers work in a field donated to the black community in Coligny, some 120kms west of Johannesburg.
Luca Sola/AFP via Getty Images
The proposed amendment to the constitution represents a critical juncture in South African constitutional politics.
Cyril Ramaphosa is president of South Africa as well as president of the governing African National Congress. The party has scuppered coalition building at local government level.
EPA/Yeshiel Panchia
Coalitions work best when parties in the partnership are aligned politically.
Ugandan opposition politician Bobi Wine takes a selfie with Zimbabwe’s opposition leader Nelson Chamisa
Aaron Ufumeli/EPA-EFE
Bobi Wine in Uganda does it; so do the Economic Freedom Fighters in South Africa. The red beret is worn to signify the revolutionary. Its power lies in a symbolism that combines art and politics.
Leader of the Economic Freedom Fighters Julius Malema (C) addresses the media after local elections in 2016.
EPA/Kim Ludbrook
Political mistrust is high as the country looks to the next municipal elections in 2021.
Glen Mashinini, the head of South Africa’s electoral commission announces the 2019 elections results.
GCIS
The recent election has shown again that the extremism which worries democrats in much of the world has little traction in South Africa.
South African President Cyril Ramaphosa cheers during the results announcement ceremony in Pretoria, South Africa.
EPA-EFE/Yeshiel Panchia
Why do once mighty political parties sometimes collapse? Two reasons that have driven some into obscurity are corruption and conflicts within the party. The ANC suffers from both.
Peter Marais, the Freedom Front Plus’ candidate for Western Cape premier, left, and party leader, Pieter Groenewald.
Brendan Magaar/African News Agency(ANA).
The FF+‘s constituency is overwhelmingly Afrikaner white Protestants. But, it appears to have made inroads among coloured conservatives.
Economic Freedom Fighters leader Julius Malema at an election rally.
Kim Ludbrook/EPA
The EFF’s militarised aesthetic is more than a sideshow. It forms a key part of its spectacle-oriented brand of politics.