South Africa's ANC signs deals with various parties to form a governing alliance.
After reaching an accord, Cyril Ramaphosa, the incumbent leader, was set to be appointed during the first gathering of the recently elected parliament on Friday. Mbalula, the ANC Secretary-General, expressed satisfaction, stating they had attained a major milestone and were committed to working in harmony. This coalition consists of major parties like the ANC, DA, and IFP, alongside left-wing party United Democratic Movement and right-wing Afrikaner Freedom Front Plus (FF+). Other groups, such as the Muslim Party Al Jamaah, left-wing grouping Rise Mzansi, and the National Coloured Congress, have also pledged their limited support.
Excluded from this alliance are the radical left-wing Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) and Zuma's party MK. The latter had fiercely disputed the election results and announced that their 58 MPs would forgo attending the legislature.
In the May 29th parliamentary elections, the ANC won the majority with 40% of the votes and secured 159 representatives compared to their previous number of 230. Several factors have contributed to this decline in support for the ANC, including corruption scandals, skyrocketing unemployment, a weak economy, high crime rates, and constant power outages - all of which have pushed many South Africans to distrust the governing party.
