By Shingirai Vambe
The election that costed the African National Congress its parliamentary majority for the first time since taking power in 1994, forced power negotiations with rivals to form a broad alliance, known as a government of national unity.
Friday morning, opposition political parties gathered at the Parliament of South Africa discussing on the gaps that appeared before, during and after election leading to the coalition government. With the majority vote of over 40%, ANC leaders, Cyril Ramaphosa was elected to lead the country for the next five years.
The tension between parties and their ideologies left citizens skeptical and uncertain of their governance future. The Umkonto We Sizwe party approached the Courts, seeking to bar Parliament from having its first sitting and election of the President. The application was thrown away.
Historic and interesting times ahead of South Africa Parliament, having opposition political parties demanding a fair share on the duties of legislators in Parliament.
Ramaphosa will be inaugurated on Wednesday.
The country’s economy is currently hanging on the political status thread with citizens demanding service delivery transparency and accountability of national resources.
While historic, the results of South Africa’s 2024 election follow a pattern from previous polls. The ANC’s share of the vote had dropped steadily over the five previous elections, from a high of 70 percent in 2004 to 57.5 percent in 2019. In the 2021 local government polls, the ANC earned 45.6 percent of the vote, forcing it into coalition arrangements for the first time.
Disillusionment with the ANC has been growing for decades due to perceptions of endemic corruption and patronage, diversion of state resources, and certain anti-democratic tendencies stemming in part from fierce factional battles. South Africa also has among the world’s highest reported unemployment rates.
The top four political parties have promised to arrest the increasing rate of criminality having the current statistics of 9000 guns missing and used to commit various crimes in the country, the neighbouring country Zimbabwe record 400 bodies crossing the border every month, majority are victims of the violent crimes.
Scholars and analysts said the move by political parties is nothing but a strategy and opportunity for self enrichments of individuals who didnt agree then later agree on Government of National Unity (GNU)
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