Neelam Rahim | neelam@radioislam.co.za

4-minute read
11 June 2024 | 14:23 CAT

South Africa President Ramaphosa

South Africa’s governing African National Congress (ANC) is faced with a tricky dilemma which will determine the country’s future after it spectacularly lost its parliamentary majority following the election.

However, the ANC remains the largest party in parliament, which positions it as a key player in forming a coalition government which will significantly impact the country’s foreign policy direction.

Having won only 40% of the vote, the ANC needs to find a coalition partner to secure a majority in parliament which will support its choice of president and legislative plans – unless it tries to go along with a minority government.

Radio Islam International discussed what coalitions could mean for the country’s foreign policy with a Professor of African Politics, Development and International Relations at the University of Pretoria, Christopher Isike.

According to Prof Isike, the ANC has the advantage of determining the parameters of the current parties they enter into a coalition with.

“The foreign policy stance on Israel-Palestine, the Middle East will be one of the parameters the ANC will draw and determine a no-go area in terms of deciding who to enter into a coalition with or not,” Prof Isike pointed out.

One option would be to strike a deal with the second biggest party, the centre-right Democratic Alliance (DA), which won 22% of the vote.

However, this would be politically risky considering the DA’s stance on Gaza along with DA’s critics accusing it of trying to protect the economic privileges the country’s white minority built up during the racist system of apartheid – a charge the party denies.

“Their point of view on international relations is to be led by the West which we could never agree to,” a senior South African diplomat told The Daily Maverick.

Alternatively, the ANC could work with two radical parties that broke away from it – former President Jacob Zuma’s uMkhonto weSizwe (MK) party or Julius Malema’s Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF).

These three parties share the same constituency, the black majority, and their combined vote is 65%. Mr Malema has warned the ANC against forming a coalition that would “reinforce white supremacy” and be a “puppet of a white imperialist agenda”.

This clearly referenced a coalition with the DA, whose policies oppose the ANC’s. Still, they both agree on the need to uphold the constitution that South Africa adopted at the end of apartheid in 1994.

President Cyril Ramaphosa has made it clear that any coalition agreement must be within the current constitution’s framework.

Listen to the full interview on The Daily Round Up with Moulana Junaid Kharsany and Professor Christopher Isike here.