International News
South Africa Set For Political Shake-Up After Historic Vote
South Africa’s ruling ANC was on track to score its worst electoral result ever on Friday, with early tallies showing voters deserted the party in droves, ending its 30-year political dominance.
If the African National Congress (ANC) is confirmed as dropping below 50 percent of the vote, it would force the party to seek coalition partners to be re-elected to form a new government.
That would mark an historic evolution in the country’s democratic journey, as the party has enjoyed an absolute parliamentary majority since 1994.
With more than 55 percent of votes in Wednesday’s general election counted, the ANC was leading but with a score of 42 percent — well below the 57 percent it won in 2019.
As votes continued to be validated, data from the Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) showed the centre-right Democratic Alliance (DA) held a secure second place with 24 percent of preferences.
It was followed by former president Jacob Zuma’s uMkhonto weSizwe (MK) on 11 percent and the leftist Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) on 10 percent.
The final results are expected in the next couple of days.
IEC’s website was briefly down on Friday due to technical problems.
“The data in the data centre remains intact and the results have not been compromised,” the IEC said, after apologising for the issue.
“All services have since been restored and the leaderboard is working normal. Result processing continues unaffected.”
Once led by late anti-apartheid icon Nelson Mandela, the ANC has dominated South Africa’s democracy with an unbroken run of five presidents from the party.
‘Unpredictable partners’
The ANC remains respected for its leading role in overthrowing white minority rule and its progressive social welfare and black economic empowerment policies are credited by supporters with helping millions of black families out of poverty.
But over three decades of almost unchallenged rule, its leadership has been implicated in a series of large-scale corruption scandals.
The continent’s most industrialised economy has languished, and crime and unemployment figures have hit record highs.
Voting was marked by hours-long queues in many districts, which in some cases forced polls to remain open well beyond the scheduled closing time.
Experts are split over which party the ANC would prefer as bedfellows and on whether the poor performance threatened President Cyril Ramaphosa’s leadership.
Some have predicted the party will patch up ties with one or both of the radical left groups led by former ANC figures: firebrand Julius Malema’s EFF or Zuma’s MK.
In a major upset, the latter was leading with 44 percent of votes in Zuma’s home province of KwaZulu-Natal, a key electoral battleground.
“The MK has really eaten into the ANC’s vote,” Siphamandla Zondi, a politics professor from the University of Johannesburg, told AFP.
Others, like analyst and author Susan Booysen, said the rift between Ramaphosa and Zuma — who has long been bitter about the way he was forced out of office in 2018 — was “too far reaching” to mend.
The ANC might prefer the centre-right DA, which pledged to “rescue South Africa” through better governance, free market reforms and privatisations, to the leftist EFF, which is perceived as “too erratic” and “unpredictable” in its demands, she added.
Jeremy Doku insisted Manchester “will keep on fighting” in the Premier League title race despite their “painful” draw with Everton on Monday.
City drew 3-3 with the Toffees at Hill Dickinson Stadium, with Doku scoring a 97th-minute equaliser, having also scored the opening goal.
Doku’s equaliser (96:49) is City’s third-latest goal on record (since 2006-07) in a Premier League game after John Stones’ strike against Arsenal in September 2024 (97:14) and Gabriel Jesus’ goal against Everton in February 2019 (96:52).
Doku has had a hand in six goals across his last five games for City in all competitions (four goals, two assists), as many as in his previous 22 games combined (one goal, five assists).
The Belgian also created the most chances in the match against Everton (four), completed the most dribbles (5/7) and won the most duels (14/19).
City avoided defeat in a Premier League game despite trailing by 2+ goals as late as the 82nd minute for the first time since March 2012 against Sunderland (3-3).
They went on to win the league title in 2011-12, and Doku believes City can still beat Arsenal to the trophy this season.
“First half, we played well and created a lot of chances. We know if we don’t score those chances, it is going to get difficult at the end,” said Doku.
“Obviously, they are at their own stadium, they create chances, and they are dangerous, and they scored two goals, but I think we gave them the game.
“Good that we came back because one point is not bad in games like this.
“We will see. It feels painful now. There is still a lot of games to go. We lost two points, but we know that one point can be important at the end.
“We will keep on fighting. We owe it to ourselves and to our fans.”
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs said Nigerians interested in repatriation from South Africa will be responsible for the cost of their return trip to Nigeria.
The ministry’s spokesperson, Kimiebi Ebienfa, stated this during a press briefing on Monday in Abuja.
The briefing came shortly after a closed-door meeting between the Ministry’s Permanent Secretary, Dunoma Ahmed, and the South African Acting High Commissioner, Lesoli Machele.
Mr Ebienfa said the process will be self-funded and not state-funded, as it is a voluntary decision that the Nigerian government will only facilitate and coordinate.
In the recent past, such reparations have been sponsored by Nigerian airline owners, particularly Allen Onyema, the CEO of Air Peace.
The Nigerian government, on Sunday, indicated its readiness to repatriate its citizens from South Africa due to xenophobic violence.
The effort primarily targets Nigerians who feel threatened by the xenophobic violence and tension in parts of South Africa, as the protests against black immigrants in the country continue. Two Nigerians were killed last month.
Since the announcement, about 130 Nigerians in South Africa have expressed a willingness to return home voluntarily.
Mr Ebienfa stated that the return of the Nigerians depends on their financial capacity, as they would be expected to fund their trip back home individually.
He said, “Those willing to leave are expected to approach the high commission and, given that their decision is voluntary, have the resources to fund their return to Nigeria.”
The government will not “provide an aircraft from Nigeria to convey them.”
He also noted that the speed of the repatriation process will be determined by the availability of funds.
“Yes, 130 as of this morning have registered, but actualisation would be required to have their flight ticket to move back to Nigeria.”
Mr Ebienfa also explained that Nigerians who have so far expressed interest are motivated either by concerns about threats to their lives or by fear of arrest by South African law enforcement agencies.
“There are two groups of Nigerians who want to come back. One group feels the country is not safe for them and wants to come. They have all their papers intact.
“Then there is also the second group that has travel document violations or resident permit violations. And instead of running away from law enforcement, they are appealing that the government facilitate their movement back to Nigeria,” he explained.
However, he noted that the process is still being worked out and that the government would step in to provide aircraft or other needed assistance if tensions rise and the situation becomes more volatile.
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