Johannesburg — On April 27, 1994, Black and White South Africans voted side by side for a new government for the first time in the country’s history. Nelson Mandela’s party, the African National Congress (ANC) had defeated apartheid and ushered in a new democratic era.
The ANC swept to power with ease and Mandela became South Africa’s first Black president to the delight of a mostly adoring country. Now, 30 years later, the party that brought democracy to South Africa has been defeated by it.
National election results announced over the weekend saw the ANC lose the electoral majority it had won in every round of voting since Mandela came to power on that historic day three decades ago.
Why did the ANC lose its long-held majority?
As they headed to the polls to cast their verdict on the ANC for the seventh time since 1994, South Africans had a lot to complain about.
A stubbornly high unemployment rate, which officially hit 32.9% last year but in reality is much higher; persistent economic inequalities; rampant corruption and a lack of public service delivery, particularly in poorer areas, all contributed to the dethroning of the ANC.
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