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Ramaphosa set to make changes as ANC poised for victory

Friday May 10 2019
SA

President of South Africa and the African National Congress Cyril Ramaphosa (centre) greets a voter as he arrives to cast his vote for the general elections at the Hitekani Primary School in Soweto, Johannesburg on May 8, 2019. PHOTO | AFP

By BBC

South Africa's President Cyril Ramaphosa is expected to make significant cabinet changes in the coming days, after his governing African National Congress (ANC) secured a reduced, but comfortable majority in this week’s general election.

With three quarters of votes counted, it’s now clear the main opposition, the Democratic Alliance (DA), failed to capitalise on years of government corruption and economic stagnation.

The political landscape has shifted only slightly with these elections, with the ANC slipping from 62% to 57% nationally.

That’s still quite an achievement for a party that has presided over a decade of economic stagnation and entrenched corruption.

President Cyril Ramaphosa can now claim a mandate to trim a bloated cabinet, see off his rivals, and watch a revived justice system bring an end to a culture of impunity.

This has been a bad election for the DA which lost votes. The DA garnered 22% and the radical Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) is in third place with 10%, based on the official results.

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Turnout was about 65% in the twin parliamentary and provincial elections - a drop compared to the 73% registered five years ago.

Some six million young people did not register to vote.

Full election results are due on Saturday.

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