Party that ended apartheid losing control in South Africa

The political party of Nelson Mandela suffered major losses in local elections around South Africa last week. Officials on Saturday announced the results, which showed the African National Congress (ANC) lacked support from many South Africans as it grappled with corruption scandals and economic failures.

The opposition Democratic Alliance, which named its first black party leader last year, won three of the country’s six largest municipalities. The ANC lost the capital, Pretoria, and its surrounding Tshwane metropolitan area, including the Nelson Mandela Bay area. In a tight race, the ANC won the most votes in Johannesburg, the country’s biggest city, but no party reached a majority.

“Election after election, the ANC has hung onto its past glory and kept its place in the heart of most South Africans,” the Mail & Guardian news site said in an editorial. “This time around, though, it’s not enough.”

In a statement following the elections, ANC leaders said, “we will reflect and introspect where our support has dropped.”

The ANC has ruled South Africa unopposed since Mandela led the party to end white-minority rule in 1994. The party stood firm its fight against minority rule and struggled to make basic amenities accessible to the masses. But corruption allegations and economic hardship have scarred its leadership in recent months. As President Jacob Zuma gave a speech on national television last weekend, four women stood and faced the crowd with signs that referred to his acquittal for rape in 2006. In April, Zuma barely survived an impeachment vote after the constitutional court said he broke the law for disregarding an order to repay some of the $16 million in state funds he used to renovate his private home.

The ANC had accused its major opposition, the Democratic Alliance, of running a party with only white leaders. But Mmusi Maimane, the party’s first black leader, said the latest election results “completely shatter” the ANC’s claims. Standing on the party’s success, Maimane said the Democratic Alliance would now begin its campaign to challenge ANC in the upcoming 2019 elections.

Political analysts said the results could increase pressure on the ANC and possibly result in Zuma leaving office before his mandate ends in 2019.

“South Africans have sent the ANC a powerful message ahead of the 2019 general election,” Judith February with the Institute of Security Studies in Pretoria said in an analysis. “One thing these elections have shown is that change is not an elusive concept.”