In South Africa, Cyril Ramaphosa re-elected president thanks to an agreement between the ANC and its main opponent

A new page in South African democracy was written on Friday June 14. If Cyril Ramaphosa, the outgoing president, was re-elected by the National Assembly for a second term, everything else is set to change. While reigning supreme over South African politics since the end of apartheid, the African National Congress (ANC), forced to form a coalition to retain power, finally signed an agreement with its main adversary, the Democratic Alliance (DA), to lead the country together within a “government of national unity”.

“This is a historic moment in the life of our country that requires us to work and act together to consolidate our constitutional democracy and the rule of law, and build a South Africa for all its people”declared President Cyril Ramaphosa after his re-election, welcoming the advent of a ” new era “.

After suffering a scathing setback following the May 29 elections, the South African Liberation Party, which garnered barely 40% of the vote compared to 57% in 2019, admitted to having “lost power” and invited all parties to the negotiating table. An initiative intended to form a majority within the Assembly and which culminated Friday morning with the signature of the DA, the second political force in the country, which received 21.8% of the votes in the elections.

Although smaller parties have joined the agreement, it opens the way to a refocusing of political life around the country’s two major forces. A development greeted with a sigh of relief by the financial markets, which feared an alliance with the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) or Umkhonto we Sizwe (MK), the party of former president Jacob Zuma, two populist groups associated with various corruption scandals and who advocate for radical economic reforms.

“It was the best possible solution given the options on the table in the short term. It is a government of stability and it is a government that unifies the center against the anti-constitutional forces that have emerged in the country”, summarizes Niall Reddy, researcher at the Southern Center for Inequality Studies, a research center at the University of the Witwatersrand, in Johannesburg. The EFF and the MK party, which received 9.5% and 14.6% of the vote respectively in the elections, rejected the idea of ​​taking part in a government of national unity alongside the DA, a formation that they associate with the defense of the privileges of the white minority. “It is not a government of national unity, it is a grand coalition between the ANC and the white capitalist monopoly”denounced EFF leader Julius Malema after the election of Cyril Ramaphosa.

Clear the land

While this perception is also that of part of the population and members of the ANC, the party strives to have the idea of ​​collaboration between the two parties accepted. Announcing that the ANC had obtained “a step forward on a common agreement” of government with several parties, on Thursday, its secretary general, Fikile Mbalula, worked at length to clear the ground: “We will not back down on the concept of a government of national unity because we believe it reflects the outcome of the elections. For us, it doesn’t matter whether the cat is black or white, the fundamental question is: how do we move South Africa forward taking into account the outcome of the elections? »

If the party acknowledges being “weakened” after his electoral slap, “the ANC is not going to die”assures Fikile Mbalula in response to those who “are quick to think that the ANC […] will be swallowed” : “How can you be swallowed up with 6 million votes? […] We have been pushed back, but we are not finished and we are in no position to abandon what we believe. »

On the DA side, conversely, the time has come for triumph. “Today, the DA is becoming a national government party. What was unthinkable when his predecessor only obtained 1.7% of the vote in 1994 is now a reality., rejoiced its leader, John Steenhuisen, in a speech announcing his party’s participation in the future government. Welcoming negotiations “intense but very mature”he promised to take part in the management of South Africa “in a spirit of unity and collaboration”.

The member parties of the agreement signed a declaration of intent which sets out fundamental principles of adherence to the values ​​of the South African Constitution and lists the priorities of the future government. At the top of these is, unsurprisingly, the return to growth “rapid, inclusive and sustainable”, while South Africa stagnates at around 0.8% growth. The declaration of intent also highlights the need to maintain a “social safety net”pillar of ANC policy, while the DA advocates for liberal reforms.

“A realistic document”

The agreement also lays the foundations for governance mechanisms between coalition members. The government will be formed according to the number of seats held by the different signatory parties in the Assembly. In the absence of consensus, decisions must be taken with the agreement of parties representing at least 60% of the seats. As it stands, this means that no decision can be made without the green light from the ANC or DA. In the absence of agreement between these two parties, a conflict resolution mechanism, the details of which remain to be defined, will have to take over.

“It is a realistic document regarding the need to establish mechanisms intended to manage the disagreements that will inevitably arise in a multi-party government”, underlined the DA leader. The center-right party, which is seen as a model of management at the local level, intends to promote efficiency in the management of public services and the fight against corruption within the future government.

But, recalls John Steenhuisen, “South Africa has the highest unemployment rate in the world, one of the highest crime rates in the world, logistics circuits and infrastructure are in an advanced state of decline and corruption is endemic: none “None of us should expect these problems to be resolved overnight.”.

The country will also have to deal with a new opposition crystallized around Jacob Zuma’s party, which has become the third political force in the country just a few months after its creation. Training, which ensures that “hundreds of thousands of votes” were stolen from him without providing proof, boycotted the first session of the National Assembly and the election of the president.