Johannesburg – South Africa’s opposition Inkatha Freedom Party on Wednesday announced it will ally with the ruling ANC as it seeks to build a governing coalition following elections.
The new parliament in Cape Town is to convene for the first time on Friday after the vote produced no outright winner.
The IFP won 17 seats in the 400-member National Assembly where lawmakers will be called to appoint a speaker and elect the country’s president.
The ANC, with 159 seats, has already indicated it wants to form a government of national unity with a broad group of parties, ranging from the far right to the hard left.
“It is time for the IFP to strengthen government again,” party leader Velenkosini Hlabisa told a press conference.
IFP President Velenkosini Hlabisa talks on the principles that will form a government national unity and the framework that will ensure its success.#coalitiontalks #GovernmentofNationalUnity #IFP pic.twitter.com/1XbAjErxnd
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“We are putting the stability and the best interests of South Africa first, as we committed to do throughout the election campaign,” he said.
In the new government, “the IFP will bring integrity, stability and the drive to take forward our country and its people to a better future.”
Political parties have been scrambling to build a coalition after President Cyril Ramaphosa’s African National Congress for the first time lost its absolute parliamentary majority in the May 29 ballot.
The party of late anti-apartheid leader Nelson Mandela won 40 percent of the vote — its lowest ever score — and now needs support from other parties to govern.
The centre-right Democratic Alliance (DA), which pushes a liberal, free-market agenda, garnered 87 seats and is expected to play some role within the coalition.
Ramaphosa, who should be re-elected president, will have several days to form the government.
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Compiled by Betha Madhomu
