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
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?
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
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
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
Chief Research Specialist in Democracy and Citizenship at the Human Science Research Council and a Research Fellow Centre for African Studies, University of the Free State