ANC concludes coalition agreement in South Africa with second largest party DA

In South Africa, the two largest parties have concluded a coalition agreement. The African National Congress (ANC) and the Democratic Alliance (DA) will collaborate with two smaller parties.

Together with the Zulu nationalist Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP) and the radical right Patriotic Alliance (PA), the ANC and the DA form the country’s new government. The new South African parliament met and was sworn in for the first time today.

Two weeks ago, the ANC lost its absolute majority after thirty years. The party, which has governed the country since Nelson Mandela became president in 1994, received just over 40 percent of the votes. That is much lower than the 57 percent of votes it received in the previous elections.

DA received more than 21 percent of the votes in these elections. IFP and PA received almost four and two percent of the votes respectively. The four parties together have almost 70 percent of the seats in parliament.

(New) president

For the ANC, the historic loss was a big slap in the face. The party was in power for thirty years. Voters were loyal for a long time, but the South Africa that South Africans had hoped for has not materialized. The country is struggling with many socio-economic problems and with sky-high unemployment, corruption and crime.

Today, during the session in parliament, not only will a new speaker be elected, but the new president of South Africa will also be voted on. DA has announced that it will support the ANC in the re-election of President Cyril Ramaphosa (ANC), ensuring him a second term as president.

There is great dissatisfaction with the ANC, especially among the youth in South Africa. In the video below, South African young people talk about their lives in the country.