Ramaphosa dismisses opposition coalition’s bid to unseat ANC

South Africa’s President Cyril Ramaphosa on Saturday scoffed at opposition coalition plans announced this week to unseat his historic ruling party, vowing an “outright” ANC victory at next year’s crunch polls.

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Several opposition parties this week signed a pact agreeing to form a coalition government should they garner enough votes to wrest power from the ANC which has ruled the country for nearly three decades since the end of apartheid.

“Parties that want to, … unseat the ANC – it’s a sideshow to us,” he told a meeting of his African National Congress (ANC) party in Johannesburg.

“We are going to have an outright majority and that is what is going to happen”.

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ANC

He said the ANC will win “a decisive and outright victory” in the 2024 elections “in order to defend and guarantee the continuity and our national democratic revolution”.

“We are not going into this election with the notion that we are going to be in coalition, we are not going into this election thinking we are not going to perform well,” he said.

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For the first time since the advent of democracy in 1994, the ANC risks losing its parliamentary majority in 2024, and therefore the presidency.

It faces growing discontent fuelled by poor delivery of basic services such as water, an unprecedented energy crisis and a flagging economy marked by high unemployment levels.

MANDELA PARTY

The party of Nelson Mandela fell below the 50 percent mark for the first time in local elections in 2021.

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The opposition coalition is led by South Africa’s largest opposition party Democratic Alliance party.

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© Agence France-Presse