South Africa: Postcript (October 2008 to June 2009)

Updated June 2009

The African National Congress (ANC) made it clear that the election of its Deputy President, Kgalema Motlanthe, as President of the Republic was a temporary measure until 2009 elections were held. However, the "redeployment" of Thabo Mbeki from the presidency and the purge of Mbeki loyalists from leadership positions throughout the party's leadership structures, led to some senior members to resign from the ANC and in December 2008 a new political party was formed, the Congress of the People (COPE; Jolobe 2008, 3). On the eve of the 2009 election the corruption charges against ANC President Jacob Zuma were dropped and the way was cleared for his election as South Africa's President by the incoming National Assembly.

National and provincial elections were held on 22 April 2009, and a 77% voter turnout was recorded. The ANC lost a little ground, taking 65.9% of the national vote to its 69.7% in 2004 (compare National results 2004 with 2009 National Assembly election results). The Democratic Alliance (DA, as the Democratic Party was now called) continued to grow its support, obtaining 16.7% as against its 2004 share of 12.4%. The new formed COPE managed 7.4% while the Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP) continued to decline, its share of the vote falling from 7% in 2004 to 4.6%. The overall national trends masked changes at provincial level. The ANC's share of the vote in the Western Cape fell from 45% to 32%, while the DA's share rose from 27% to 51%, enabling the DA to govern a province for the first time (see 2009 Provincial legislatures election results and Provincial legislatures results 2004). In KwaZulu-Natal, however, the ANC increased it's share from 47% in 2004 to 63%, while the share of the IFP declined to 22% from 37%, so that the ANC was able to govern the province without a coalition with the IFP for the first time. The ANC lost some support in all the other provinces, but nevertheless won all of them with majorities of over 60%.

Reference

JOLOBE, Z 2008 "The State of the ANC in 2008: The anatomy of a political crisis", IN Perspectives: Political analysis and commentary from Southern Africa, South African democracy at a brink, 5/08, 3-7, [www] http://www.boell.org.za/downloads/HBS_Perspectives_05.08_ANC_Divided.pdf [PDF document, opens new window] (accessed 10 Mar 2010).