ANC suffers worst election since taking power

The African National Congress lost its grip on local government in Tshwane, home of the South African capital Pretoria, as results on Saturday gave the opposition Democratic Alliance a second big win in the ANC’s worst election since the end of apartheid. The results of Wednesday’s voting have reshaped the political landscape in South Africa, […]

The African National Congress lost its grip on local government in Tshwane, home of the South African capital Pretoria, as results on Saturday gave the opposition Democratic Alliance a second big win in the ANC’s worst election since the end of apartheid.
The results of Wednesday’s voting have reshaped the political landscape in South Africa, where the ANC has ruled virtually unopposed since it ended white-minority rule in 1994, led by Nelson Mandela.
Unemployment, economic stagnation and scandals around President Jacob Zuma led voters to punish the ANC, changing the outlook for national elections in 2019 and potentially emboldening Zuma’s rivals within the ANC to challenge him.
Saving some pride, the ANC won in Johannesburg, South Africa’s economic and financial hub, taking 45 percent of the vote to the DA’s 38 percent, but will have to form a coalition to govern.
Wins in Tshwane and in Nelson Mandela Bay, which includes the manufacturing hub Port Elizabeth, are a watershed for the DA, which also held Cape Town, a municipality that it has controlled since 2006.