South Africa’s ruling African National Congress (ANC) party has lost control of Johannesburg, the country’s largest city and economic center.
Herman Mashaba from the opposition Democratic Alliance (DA) has been elected as mayor by Johannesburg council.
The ANC had run Johannesburg since the fall of apartheid more than 20 years ago. It lost its council majority in local elections, although it is still the largest party.
It has also lost control of the capital Pretoria and Cape Town.
Photo Wikipedia
Of South Africa’s six biggest cities, the ANC only won an outright majority in Durban, seen as a stronghold for South African President Jacob Zuma.
On August 22, there was drama at the Johannesburg council meeting, which lasted 11 hours.
A scuffle broke out between opposition party members and electoral commission officials and an ANC councilor who was sworn in earlier in the day collapsed and died shortly after Herman Mashaba was elected.
The ANC had won 44.5% of the vote, more than the DA’s 38.4%. The left-wing Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) with 11% found itself in the position of kingmaker and refused to give its votes to the ANC.
Herman Mashaba, a 56-year-old businessman, has promised to reform Johannesburg administration.
“As of this evening, corruption is declared public enemy number one in this city,” he told cheering supporters.
“Public monies that have been misspent, misused, over the last five, 10 years or so … we’re going to take this money, we’re going to look after it, so that we can provide basic services to our people.”
Herman Mashaba also pledged to tackle unemployment saying: “Over 800,000 of our residents, one-in-three, are today unemployed. We need to address this and we need to address this as a matter of urgency.”
The South African parliament is debating the impeachment of President Jacob Zuma after a court ruling against him in Nkandla private residence case.
The impeachment motion is sponsored by the opposition party, the Democratic Alliance (DA).
The DA says Jacob Zuma is unfit to govern after failing to repay public money used to upgrade his private residence.
The governing African National Congress (ANC) is expected to defeat the motion.
Opposition lawmakers called for speaker Baleka Mbete to step down, after accusing her of taking sides.
Baleka Mbete announced a short adjournment to consult parliamentary officials, delaying the start of the debate.
Photo Getty Images
The ANC has denounced the impeachment proceedings as a publicity stunt.
The DA said it would demand a secret ballot in the hope that ANC backbenchers would defy the party by helping it obtain the two-thirds majority – 267 lawmakers out of 400 – required in the lower house, the National Assembly, to impeach Jacob Zuma.
However, Baleka Mbete has rejected the proposal, saying it is not allowed in terms of parliamentary rules, local media reports say.
The DA has 89 seats in parliament and all opposition parties combined 151.
Jacob Zuma is the first president to face an impeachment vote since minority rule ended in 1994.
He has been dogged by allegations of corruption since before he was elected president in 2009.
Jacob Zuma was accused of taking bribes over an arms deal but he denied the allegation and the charges were controversially dropped just before he took office.
He later found himself at the center of controversy over the use of $23 million of public money to upgrade his private home in the rural area of Nkandla in KwaZulu-Natal province.
In 2014, South Africa’s anti-corruption watchdog Thuli Madonsela ordered President Jacob Zuma to repay a portion of the money.
Jacob Zuma had “unduly benefited” from the building of a swimming pool, amphitheater, cattle enclosure and chicken run, Thuli Madonsela said.
The DA and left-wing Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) party went to the Constitutional Court to challenge Jacob Zuma’s refusal to pay the money.
The court ruled against Jacob Zuma, and said the law was the “sharp and mighty sword that stands ready to chop the ugly head of impunity from its stiffened neck”.
It also condemned parliament for failing to hold Jacob Zuma accountable, and rejecting the public protector’s findings.
In a TV address to the nation on April 1, Jacob Zuma apologized for the “frustration” caused by the long-running controversy and said he would abide by the ruling.
South Africa’s ANC (African National Congress) has won a commanding victory in the country’s general election, partial results show.
With about 80% of the results in, the ANC has 63% of the vote, followed by the Democratic Alliance (DA) on 22%.
The Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) party is in third place with 5%.
The electoral commission said voting passed off peacefully in most areas, with turnout at just over 72%.
The ANC victory in South Africa’s general elections would return President Jacob Zuma for a second five-year term (photo Reuters)
The elections are the first since the death in December of Nelson Mandela – the country’s first black president – and mark 20 years since the end of white-minority rule.
Dissatisfaction with the government has been growing over high levels of unemployment, a lack of basic services and allegations of widespread corruption.
The ANC is likely to use its impressive mandate to try to drive through its National Development Plan – rejecting nationalization, and emphasizing investment and infrastructure.
The business-friendly plan has alarmed South Africa’s powerful unions – some of which may soon break away to form their own party, he says.
He adds that, on 5%, the EFF are no threat to the ANC but their aggressive populism will keep ministers on their toes, and South African politics more abrasive than ever.
The DA has increased its share of the vote from 17% in the last election to 22%, according to the latest results.
Early on Thursday, DA leader Helen Zille told AFP news agency that she expected her party’s final vote to be around the 23% margin.
“We’ll see how it goes. Of course, we hope it will be more. We did as much as we could,” she is quoted as saying.
The DA has been trying to make inroads into the black electorate – its support is mainly concentrated in the Western Cape which has a large white and mixed-race population.
Those born after the end of apartheid in 1994 were able to cast their ballots for the first time, although only a third of those entitled to do so had registered to vote.
The ANC victory would return President Jacob Zuma for a second five-year term. He was dogged by allegations of corruption in the build-up to the election after an independent inquiry found he had “unduly benefited” from an expensive government-funded upgrade to his private residence.
Speaking as he cast his vote on Wednesday, Jacob Zuma said he thought “the results will be very good”, but added that the campaign had been “very challenging”.
The partial results in South Africa’s polls show that governing African National Congress (ANC) has taken an early lead in the general election.
With 31% of votes counted, the ANC had 58.7% of the vote followed by the Democratic Alliance on 27.7%.
The ANC is widely expected to return to power although analysts say anything less than 60% of the vote for the party will be seen as a major upset.
The ANC is widely expected to return to power in South Africa (photo AFP)
The Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) party was in third place with 4.2%.
The electoral commission said voting passed peacefully in most areas.
Turnout was just over 72%, with about 25 million people registered to vote in 22,000 polling stations across South Africa.
The elections are the first since the death in December of Nelson Mandela – the country’s first black president – and mark 20 years since the end of white-minority rule.
Those born after the end of apartheid in 1994 were able to cast their ballots for the first time, although only a third of those entitled to do so had registered to vote.
An ANC victory would return President Jacob Zuma for a second five-year term. In the last election in 2009, the ANC saw a drop in support, polling 66% of the vote.
Speaking as he cast his vote on Wednesday, Jacob Zuma said he thought “the results will be very good”, but added that the campaign had been “very challenging”.
The party emerging as the ANC’s main challenger is the Democratic Alliance (DA) – a liberal pro-business party, led by anti-apartheid activist Helen Zille, which is trying to make inroads into the black electorate.
The EFF, launched last year by former ANC youth leader Julius Malema, hopes to get its first parliamentary seats with its campaign for nationalizing the mines and the forced redistribution of farmland.
South Africa is voting in general elections as it marks 20 years since the end of white-minority rule.
The African National Congress (ANC) is tipped to win, returning President Jacob Zuma for a second five-year term.
These are the first elections since the death in December of Nelson Mandela, South Africa’s first black president.
Correspondents say voting has begun smoothly with long queues and there is an air of excitement, especially amongst first-time voters.
Those born after the end of apartheid in 1994 are casting their first national ballots.
Correspondents say police have been deployed to areas where there have been scene of violent protests and political tensions.
South Africa is voting in general elections as it marks 20 years since the end of white-minority rule
The ANC is expected to win more than 60% of the vote, but its campaign has been hit by concern over economic problems such as high unemployment and a number of corruption scandals.
Opinion polls show there is disaffection with the country’s leadership but it is not clear whether this will translate into a significant swing to either main opposition party – the Democratic Alliance, led by anti-apartheid activist Helen Zille – or the newly launched Economic Freedom Fighters, headed by former ANC youth leader Julius Malema.
The polling station is at Orlando West High, a school steeped in the anti-apartheid struggle history and not far from Nelson Mandela’s old home.
Those lining up acknowledge the problems of corruption and high unemployment but say they are voting for all the years black people were denied the right to vote under racial oppression.
The ANC’s campaign has drawn heavily on past glories and on the outpouring of grief over the death last year of Nelson Mandela.
“Do it for Madiba, Vote ANC!” campaign posters read, referring to Nelson Mandela by his clan name.
But many commentators say this election could be the last to be dominated by South Africa’s post-apartheid legacy.
About a quarter of South Africa’s workforce is jobless and unemployment is the major issue among young voters, followed by education.
Some 22,000 polling stations are open at schools, places of worship, tribal authority sites and hospitals, while dozens of vehicles serving as mobile voting centers will operate in remote areas.
About 25 million people have registered to vote – roughly half the population.
Police say at least one officer will be on duty at every polling station and troops have also been deployed to keep order at various hotspots.
There was rioting in Bekkersdal township, south-west of Johannesburg, on Tuesday and reports that some temporary polling stations had been burned down.
Bekkersdal has suffered intermittent unrest since last year as residents protested over a lack of public services. Many have vowed to boycott the election.
Polls opened at 07:00 and are due to close 14 hours later.
President Jacob Zuma cast his ballot at his Nkandala homestead in rural KwaZulu-Natal while Helen Zille voted in Cape Town, which is under the control of her party.
The full result is not expected before Friday.
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