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South African Elections 2019: African National Congress Sustains Power

African Elections 2019
South Africa’s ANC bags its sixth term in 2019 polls
African Elections 2019
South Africa’s ANC bags its sixth term in 2019 polls

The 2019 South African Parliamentary Elections brought in a major win for President Cyril Ramaphosa and a sixth term for the African National Congress  
The South African electoral commission announced the results of the 2019 polls held last week, declaring a clear majority win for the African National Congress on Saturday. This would be the sixth term in power for the ANC.

Now stepping into his second Presidential term, Cyril Ramaphosa assured stern actions against corruption. He has vowed to free the ANC of “bad and deviant tendencies.” President Ramaphosa is now looking to appoint a new cabinet.
According to the official records of the electoral commission, 57.5% of the votes were bagged by the ANC. The party has sustained power in South African since the end of apartheid, 25 years ago. Amid public frustration around increased corruption, the voters’ turnout was lower than the previous years. Despite a clear majority, ANC won by a smaller margin than before.

President Ramaphosa replaced Jacob Zuma last year, amid towering corruption charges against the latter. He has since managed to restore the faith of the South African people in the ANC. During his victory speech in the capital city of Pretoria, President Ramaphosa said, “Our people have given all of the leaders of our country a firm mandate to build a better South Africa for all.”

ANC Deputy Secretary General, Jessie Duarte affirmed that the voters and the ANC were “united”.  She added, “And in its unity remains true to the values and principles on which it (ANC) was founded.”

Despite a visible drop in the voters’ turnout in this year’s polls, South Africans have reasserted their trust in President Ramaphosa.
An ANC member said he had faith that the President would help rid South African of the “scourge of unemployment”.

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