South Africa: An ‘Impossible’ Coalition on the Cards?

JOHANNESBURG—South Africa goes to the polls next on May 29, with a coalition of 11 opposition parties called the Multi Party Charter (MPC) hoping to break the African National Congress’s 30-year grip on rule. Going into the vote, surveys show the ANC is the weakest it has been since Nelson Mandela led it to power in 1994, following decades of whites-only apartheid rule. Corruption scandals, service delivery failures, soaring unemployment, poverty and violent crime have damaged the former liberation movement’s prospects. In the last three months of 2023, an average of 84 people were murdered and more than 130 women raped every day. Polling experts predict the ANC will fall below 50 percent in a national election for the first time, and with a result between 45 and 48 percent will partner with smaller opposition parties to remain in government....