Johannesburg, South Africa — Reeling from its worst electoral performance in 30 years, South Africa’s ruling African National Congress (ANC) on Thursday said it would seek to stitch together a “Government of National Unity” to administer the nation.
After days of internal debate within the party, President Cyril Ramaphosa told a meeting of the ANC’s top leadership structure, the national executive committee (NEC), late on Thursday, that South Africa was at a moment of “fundamental consequence” and that the country required extraordinary leadership. In last week’s elections, the ANC lost its majority in South Africa’s parliament for the first time since the end of apartheid.
