The ANC currently controls 264 seats out of 400, but this may change in 2014. The declining support for the ANC reflected in the TARNews polls, the fracturing ANC base, and the increase in service delivery protests threaten the ANC’s absolute majority in parliament. Some of this has been foreshadowed by the 2011 municipal elections. The ANC won the 2011 municipal elections with 66 percent of the national vote, but the main opposition party, the Democratic Alliance (DA), which has 67 seats in parliament, picked up 21 percent of the vote. Then, as now, there was sharp criticism of the ANC’s weakened connection with its base. Notably, the TARNews survey shows that 18 percent would support the DA, up from 13 percent in November 2008. The DA clearly tried to harness such dissatisfaction by nominating Mamphele Ramphele on January 28 as its presidential candidate. However, the deal fell through just days later, due to disagreements over the fate of Ramphele’s party, Agang SA, in a union with the DA. Given the troubles facing the ANC, some have even proposed that the ANC may need to form a coalition government . A major mitigating factor against a steep ANC decline or a possible coalition government is the fractious opposition: Apart from the DA-Agang SA split, the Congress of the People Party (COPE), which has 30 seats in parliament, was not able to consolidate an alliance with the DA. If the ground swell of #EFF support is anything to go by, Julius Malema WILL easily be South Africa’s next President. “The EFF has grown by leaps and bounds and its ideological and political clarity was unveiled in the victorious manifesto, which is a summation of the demands and interests of the working class and the poor in South Africa.”
Posted on: Sat, 22 Mar 2014 17:50:53 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015