ANC wins elections but loses 2/3 majority

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ANC wins elections but loses 2/3 majority

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By Miriam Mannak

As expected, the African National Congress (ANC) has secured its position as South Africa's ruling party for the next coming five years. However, it has not managed to win an outright 2/3 majority in Parliament.

As a result, the ANC will for instance not be able to change the country's constitution, which was a fear among many South Africans.

At the moment of writing, the party which was established in 1912 as a freedom movement against the old Apartheid regime, has little less then 65.5 percent of the votes.

"It is a relief that they did not manage to secure a two-thirds majority, as this would probably mean that changes would be made to the constitution," said a resident of Cape Town's Milnerton suburb. "And this could lead to for instance amendments to laws with regards to the presidency. Currently, a president can only serve a maximum of two terms of each five years."

In South Africa, and especially among minorities, a fear exists for the ANC changing this particular law in order to give the party's leader and the country's next president that Jacob Zuma the chance to remain head of state for an indefinite period of time. 

While the ANC secured the majority of the votes in most provinces, the party lost the Western Cape province - with Cape Town as its capital - to the Democratic Alliance (DA).

The inauguration of Zuma will take place sometime next week, and many dignitories from around the world are expected to attend the ceremony. The Dalai Lama however, is not among the invited guests.

Earlier this year, political mudslinging occured after the Dalai Lama was refused a visa to South Africa.