Under-Fire Ramaphosa Is Still ANC’s Best Bet in South Africa
- ANC suffers worst electoral performance since end of apartheid
- Polls show Ramaphosa is way more popular than his party
An African National Congress party (ANC) local election campaign poster featuring Cyril Ramaphosa in Pretoria, South Africa, on Nov. 3.
Photographer: Waldo Swiegers/BloombergThis article is for subscribers only.
President Cyril Ramaphosa presided over the African National Congress’s worst electoral performance since the end of apartheid. A top South African ruling party official still thinks he’s its best asset.
Support for the ANC in municipal elections held on Nov. 1 dropped to 46% -- the first time it’s fallen below 50% since the party of Nelson Mandela came to power a quarter century ago. That quashed expectations that Ramaphosa’s popularity would soothe dissatisfaction with poor service delivery, crumbling infrastructure, record unemployment and frequent power outages.