ANC leadership to meet

DISMAL ELECTION RESULTS

JOHANNESBURG – Deputy Secretary General of the African National Congress (ANC), Nomvula Mokonyane, says the ruling party leadership was meeting yesterday.

This came as the reality of the ruling party losing the majority vote sinks in.

With 63.71 per cent of the votes counted, the ruling party was at 41.86 per cent. This is followed by the Democratic Alliance (DA) with 22.88 per cent and the uMkhonto weSizwe Party (MK party) with 11.80 per cent.

The MK party has overtaken the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF), which is on 9.5 per cent.

In the Northern Cape, the party was sitting at 49.27 per cent, with 99.86 per cent votes counted. The DA came second with 21.25 per cent of the votes, followed by the EFF with 12.87 per cent. The Patriotic Alliance even made inroads with 8.37 per cent support for the first time since its inception.

OPPOSITION

In KwaZulu-Natal, the ANC is likely going to be an official opposition. This as the MK Party was sitting at 44.13 per cent, which is more than double the ruling party’s support of 18.82 per cent. The ANC is also on shaky ground in Gauteng. With 53.31 per cent of results in, the ANC is at 35.13 per cent, followed by the EFF at 12.34 per cent.

Amid speculation around President Cyril Ramaphosa’s future in the ANC and talks of coalitions, Mokonyane said the leadership would yesterday.

“There will be a meeting of the ANC leadership today. There will be a consultation out of the meeting of the national officials. By tomorrow afternoon there will be an interaction with the nation,” she told the media at the National Results Operation Centre on Friday.

On coalitions, Mokonyane said it was the party’s structures that were responsible for decisions on coalitions, not officials at the ROC. “We don’t toy around with coalitions, we reflect on what is good for the country and respect the will of voters. That’s why we went into these elections with the full intention of absolute victory for the ANC,” she said.