Britain congratulated South African President and leader of the African National Congress Cyril Ramaphosa following the party’s triumph in the 2019 parliamentary and provincial elections.
The ANC emerged victorious in the elections, winning 55.5% of the parliamentary vote, according to provisional results from 99.9% of polling districts. Despite its win, however, this is the ANC’s worst performance since white minority rule ended in 1994.
“Congratulations Cyril Ramaphosa on your election success. As I said in South Africa last year, by working together as friends and partners we will secure a more prosperous future for all our people. I look forward to continuing that work with you,” Prime Minister Theresa May said in a Twitter post.
“Congratulations Cyril Ramaphosa on your election victory, and to all South Africans in this the 25th anniversary of your democracy,” Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt tweeted.
The party of former president and freedom fighter Nelson Mandela has been in power for 25 years and this is the first time it has won less that 60% of the vote in the national elections.
The 2019 elections saw the ANC face its biggest challenge yet, with a notable portion of the electorate expressing anger at corruption scandals and entrenched racial inequalities.
Despite 26.7 million South African registered to vote – the highest number in the history of the country’s democracy – it was the nation’s worst turnout.
10 million South Africans had not registered to vote, many of those being young people who have voiced a sense of disillusionment with the current state of South African politics and what they see as unfulfilled promises from the governing party.
Ramaphosa’s first full presidential term is expected to start later in May, following nomination by his party’s parliamentary caucus and an inauguration ceremony.
