Elections 2014: ANC Wins With a Weaker Majority


By Oliver Ngwenya    10-May-2014 10:07 UTC+02:00

iecOn Friday afternoon, in the aftermath of the election and with almost all the votes having been counted, there have emerged many views about the tentative results. The African Union observer mission to the election has declared that the South African election of 2014 to be free and fair. Professor Ibrahima Fall, who is the head of the observer mission, said that the election can be declared free, fair and transparent, adding praise for the commission’s use of technology. He, however, made it clear that this was a preliminary report.

There are clear indications that the ruling African National Congress is cruising to an easy victory. By mid afternoon on Friday, the ANC had amassed a total of 11 181 338 votes, which translates to 62.24 percent of the counted votes. This was after almost 98.83 percent of the votes had been counted. This, however, showed a decrease for the ruling party from the previous elections, showing a reduced popularity among the masses. The party that seems to have benefitted somewhat from the waning fortunes of the former liberation movement is the Democratic Alliance.

From a support base that amounted to just over sixteen percent of the votes cast in 2009, the Hellen Zille led party increased their tally to a massive 23 percent of votes cast this time around. While remaining the official national opposition, the party has made inroads into the once considered strongholds of the ruling party like Gauteng province. This has led the party leader to to make claims that her party now has an increased support base in the black population, a fact that has been disputed by some political analysts.

It appears that the leader of the new Economic Freedom Fighters, Julius Malema will have to wait a little longer to move into the Union Buildings. This became clear after the party managed to put together only just over one million votes nationally, amounting to just 6% of the national voters cake. However, the fact that this translates into twenty three members of the House needs to send shock waves down the spines of the powers that be in the ANC. They have outdone themselves in their first election and this must be commended. Inkatha Freedom Party and National Party obtained 2.42 and 1.58 percent of the votes respectively.

After a failed political marriage to the the Democratic Alliance, Mamphele Ramphele’s AgangSA only managed to garner a paltry 50 378 votes, which has given the party a single seat in parliament. Political parties need 47 000 votes to acquire a seat in parliament. This attracted tongue lashing from former bedmate Hellen Zille, who accused Mamphele of destroying her political brand and worth.

The Independent Electoral Commission has announced that the official announcement of the results would be at 6pm on Saturday.


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