South Africa recently commemorated the end of Apartheid. During this time, the sacrifices that had been made by Nelson Mandela are remembered as well. After dedicating his life towards the struggle against the racist apartheid regime in South Africa, and spending nearly 3 decades in prison in South Africa, Nelson Mandela would go on to lead the nation as South Africa’s first black president.
Mandela sought a bright future for South Africa moving forward, a South Africa for all people, black or white. However, the prosperous South Africa that Nelson Mandela had envisioned has, so far, not yet been materialised. Unemployment is on the rise, South Africa’s energy infrastructure has been in a dire state due to lack of investment, government corruption has been a major problem, as well as other issues faced by the country.
This year is a hugely significant year, because the South African general election will be taking place in less than a month’s time on the 29th of May. And it seems that for the first time since the end of the apartheid era, the African National Congress party (the ANC), Nelson Mandela’s former party, may lose its parliamentary majority.
Cyril Ramaphosa
The ANC party, today, is not the same party that Nelson Mandela once led. Accusations of widespread corruption among party members have been rampant, and infighting between factions in the party have become increasingly common. As a result of the major difficulties facing South Africa under the rule of the ANC, it looks like the people of South Africa may be ready for a new government to take control. However, the ANC is not going down without a fight
Cyril Ramaphosa, the leading candidate for the ANC and the incumbent president of South Africa, has been on the campaign trail all over South Africa. He has said that he believes the ANC still has enough widespread support to win the election and maintain their majority in parliament.
However, even Ramaphosa himself hasn’t been spared of accusations of corruption after the Phala Phala scandal that he was involved in last year, which severely damaged his reputation.
The Democratic Alliance
Moreover, the ANC faces major opposition from South Africa’s biggest opposition party, the Democratic Alliance (or the DA in short). The Democratic Alliance maintained their current position as the biggest opposition party for around over a decade at this point, and they see this election as their best opportunity to dethrone the ANC party, so they have been campaigning aggressively.
The party, led by John Steenhuisen, has blamed the ANC for much of the economic woes faced by South Africans. They currently hold positions of government mainly along South Africa’s Western Cape region, and they often point to their work in the region as an example of their ability to govern effectively.
They have joined together with other smaller opposition parties in South Africa with the aim of forming a coalition government if they collectively manage to win enough seats in government. Moreover, John Steenhuisen has so far sided against the possibility of them governing in a coalition with the ANC.
The challenge from the Democratic Alliance is a major worry for the ANC. Another major party the ANC has to face are Julius Malema’s Economic Freedom Fighters.
The EFF
The Economic Freedom Fighters are the third-largest party in the South African parliament. They are a far left party that is led by their controversial leader Julius Malema. Their plan, if elected, would involve the state taking over major parts of South Africa’s economy, and they have called for the controversial policy of land reform.
Their party leader Julius Malema has often been accused of stoking racial tensions throughout South Africa. More recently, some of the most controversial comments Malema has made have been around Russia’s war in Ukraine and Israel’s war in Gaza.
On the war in Ukraine, Malema has argued that South Africa should support Russia’s efforts in its invasion of Ukraine. He has even gone as far as to say that South Africa should be sending Russia weapons to fight against the Ukrainians.
On Israel, he claimed that Hamas, which is widely regarded as a terrorist organisation, did nothing wrong in their October 7 attack on Israel. In a speech in front of the Israeli embassy in South Africa, he even compared Hamas fighters to Nelson Mandela. In that same speech, he argued that South Africa should support Hamas in their fight against Israeli occupation.
While the EFF do pose a threat to the ANC electorally, Julius Malema has not ruled out a possible coalition government with the ANC.
Jacob Zuma’s MK Party
Then you have the uMkhonto we Sizwe (or MK party) which is led by South Africa’s former president Jacob Zuma. Jacob Zuma had been forced out of the presidency following corruption allegations against him and replaced with Cyril Ramaphosa.
Ever since then, there has been a major feud between him and Cyril Ramaphosa, which has caused major divisions within the ANC party. He has decided to run against the ANC with his MK party to oust Cyril Ramaphosa from the presidency. The ANC had attempted to bar him from running for office due to his past corruption scandals, however, the South African courts had ruled that he is eligible to run for office.
The MK party does pose a threat to the ANC party as well. There are fears that Jacob Zuma would be able to tap into the support base of the ANC and cause them to lose votes in the election.
This year’s election is definitely shaping up to be an incredibly competitive election between these major political parties, we can only wait and see what the future holds for South Africa.
