S. African Vote Rivals Stage Last Rallies With ANC Majority In Balance - UrduPoint

Source: UrduPoint

Johannesburg, (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 24th May, 2024) South African parties are gearing up for a final boisterous weekend of stadium rallies ahead of what is expected to be the most tightly contested general election in decades.

The African National Congress of President Cyril Ramaphosa, 71, plans to fill a 90,000-seat Johannesburg stadium with yellow-clad supporters Saturday, in a bid to reclaim lost support and avert its worst electoral showing ever.

In power since the advent of democracy in 1994, the ANC is still projected to come out as the biggest party but could lose its outright parliamentary majority for the first time.

Sliding under 50 percent would put it in uncharted waters, forced to find coalition partners to remain in power.

"Everybody is aware that change is in the air and voting this time will make a change," said political analyst Sandile Swana. "There's going to be negotiation and this is not going to be like a regular election."

Under the slogan "Let's do more together", the ANC has sought to play up its achievements during the campaign.

Headed by John Steenhuisen, 48, a career politician advocating for liberal reforms including the privatisation of state-owned companies and the loosening of labour laws, it vowed to "rescue" South Africa and has formed a coalition with about 10 smaller parties.

It is trailed in the polls by the radical leftist Economic Freedom Fighters of firebrand politician Julius Malema, and uMkhonto weSizwe (MK), a new party fronted by former president Jacob Zuma that threatens to take votes away from the ANC.

This week he was ruled ineligible to stand for parliament because of a previous conviction for contempt of court, but he remains his party's leader and his face will still appear on the ballots, which have already been printed.

Colourful and charismatic, 82-year-old Zuma still musters considerable support among part of the electorate that views Ramaphosa, a multimillionaire businessman, as too business-friendly and detached.

MK is expected to score big in Zuma's home province of KwaZulu-Natal, an electoral battleground.

The controversy surrounding his eligibility had raised fears of violence, but the party has called for calm.

Rioting after Zuma's brief 2021 imprisonment left more than 350 people dead.

Ramaphosa has said the security forces were ready to deal with "any threat of violence".