After 30 years of dominating South Africa politics, the ruling African National Congress will confront its most difficult election this month, with most opinion surveys predicting it will lose its parliamentary majority for the first time.

The ANC’s reputation, once admired under Nelson Mandela’s leadership and regarded as a beacon of hope by the Black majority following the fall of apartheid in 1994, has been tarnished by record levels of unemployment, widespread poverty, the collapse of some government services, and more than a decade of corruption scandals, leaving voters disillusioned.

President Cyril Ramaphosa is hoping for re-election on May 29. However, if the ANC loses its majority, it would be forced to form a government in a coalition, which would be a first for the country and might complicate governing in Africa’s most sophisticated economy.

South Africans do not directly elect their president, but rather vote for parties that are allotted seats in Parliament based on their share of the ballot. Following that, lawmakers select the head of state.

Ramaphosa was a major member in the ANC in the early 1990s, and he was once considered Mandela’s apprentice. He left politics to become a successful businessman before returning to serve as South Africa’s deputy president in 2014. He became president in 2018 when Jacob Zuma resigned amid corruption charges.

Ramaphosa has tried to repair the ANC’s credibility by cracking down on government corruption. However, during his president, unemployment has climbed to 32%, the highest in the world, and he has struggled to reduce poverty.

Electricity Crisis in South Africa

An electricity crisis has caused 62 million power outages across the country as a result of problems at the state-run electricity supplier. It had a negative impact on the economy and Ramaphosa’s reputation as someone who could solve South Africa’s problems, even though the blackouts were caused by mismanagement during the Zuma administration.

The ANC is still projected to win the most votes, but if it obtains less than 50%, it will require coalition partners to reelect Ramaphosa, who is 71 years old.

John Steenhuisen leads the Democratic Alliance, the largest opposition party. The centrist DA has claimed to “rescue” South Africa from the ANC’s corruption and ineptitude, but has yet to win a national election. The DA received 22% of the vote in the last national election in 2019, while the ANC won 62%.

The DA reached a pre-election deal with smaller opposition parties, thinking that their combined vote would secure a majority and depose the ANC. However, they would all need to dramatically expand their share, which is considered implausible.

Economic Freedom Fighters

Steenhuisen, 48, is the sole white leader among South Africa’s major political parties. In a society where race remains at the forefront of national awareness, critics argue that the DA serves the interests of the white minority more than the 80% of South Africans who are Black.

Since its founding in 2013 by Julius Malema, a former ANC youth leader ousted from the ruling party, the Economic Freedom Fighters have risen quickly to become South Africa’s third largest party in Parliament.

His fiery, far-left language has made the 43-year-old South African politician the most divisive, but his argument that the ANC has failed poor, Black South Africans has found momentum, particularly among unemployed and disenfranchised youth.

The EFF has advocated for mine nationalization and land transfer to poor Blacks. The party, which adheres to Marxist doctrine, claims that economic disparity based on race persists decades after apartheid, with whites generally wealthy and Blacks impoverished.

Security concerns for the 2024 election

Malema and other EFF MPs have frequently interrupted opponents’ speeches in Parliament and gotten into scuffles with security personnel, bringing a militant brand of politics to the heart of South Africa’s democracy. The EFF is a potential coalition partner for the ANC, while neither party has stated whether there is an agreement.

Former President Zuma added a fresh dimension when he declared in December that he would leave the ANC he once commanded and return to politics with a new party.

Zuma’s MK Party is unlikely to threaten the top three, but it is expected to severely diminish the ANC vote just as the ruling party confronts its most difficult electoral test. The 81-year-old former leader continues to command support, particularly in his home region of KwaZulu-Natal.

His reemergence has also raised security concerns for the election, as his conviction for contempt of court and subsequent prison sentence in 2021 sparked a week of rioting and looting that resulted in the deaths of over 350 people in South Africa’s worst violence since apartheid’s final days.

Zuma is battling in court over whether his criminal history bans him from running for Parliament. There is concern about unrest if he gets disqualified. Even if he isn’t, his new reputation as an agitator is sure to exacerbate tensions ahead of a key election.

Source: AP

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In a rare appearance with CNN, President Biden refused to acknowledge that Americans’ troubles with inflation saying Americans have more money in their pockets thanks to my policies. “They have the money to spend” he told CNN.

According to polls, voters are concerned about Biden’s economic policies. He did admit that inflation, one of the major problems that harmed Biden’s popularity during the first half of his administration, was real.

‘It is true, but the fact is that if you look at what people have, they have enough money to spend,’ he asserted. He blamed the lack of consumer confidence on ‘greedy companies’.

‘It irritates them, as much as me, that you must spend more. For example, consider the whole concept of shrinkflation. It’s around 20% less for the same price; this is corporate greed. It is corporate greed, and we must deal with it.’

Biden’s words sparked outrage on social media, despite the fact that many Americans are still struggling.

One critic remarked on X: ‘Most people don’t have the money because they are honest, unlike pathological liar Joe!’

Another on X stated; ‘He is the most stupid president our country has ever had, and that is how history will remember him.’

‘The man is out of touch with everything,’ said another.

He admitted that inflation was an issue, but opted to blame ‘greedy businesses’ for the public’s lack of trust in the economy.

Biden’s approval Rating Plummeting

In a recent CNN poll, Biden’s approval ratings for the economy (34%) and inflation (29%) were both poor. When it comes to electing a president, voters are most concerned about the economy.

‘The polling data has been inaccurate all along,’ Biden said of the figures, disputing the effectiveness of phone polls.

‘We’ve already turned it around,’ Biden said when asked if he was running out of time to change voters’ perceptions of him with less than six months until Election Day.

‘I guess I’m pleased with the campaign’s progress. And, from what I’ve seen, most people don’t truly focus and make up their minds until the fall. There’s a lot going on,’ he added.

In an interview with CNN done in the battleground state of Wisconsin, Biden stated why he believes the polls are wrong and warned Israel that if it invades Rafah, he will withhold US arms.

Robert Kennedy Jr a Wildcard

Biden’s re-election campaign has highlighted its large fundraising efforts and on-the-ground presence in battleground states. They also point out that Trump is required to appear in New York for the trial.

Meanwhile, Biden is dealing with an uncertain Middle East and progressives who are dissatisfied with his unwavering support for Israel and the treatment of Palestinian refugees.

Then there’s Robert Kennedy Jr.’s independent presidential campaign. Both Trump and Biden’s campaigns are concerned that Kennedy will play a spoiler role, diverting votes away from them.

Trump has stepped up his criticism on RFK Jr., and Biden has announced a dozen Kennedy family endorsements to offset RFK Jr.’s use of the clan’s political legacy.

Biden’s health remains a concern. The president will turn 82 just weeks after Election Day, November 5, and is already the oldest president in American history; Trump is 77.

His approval rating remains at a low 38 percent, according to Gallup polls.

Former President Donald Trump attended a rally in New Jersey on Saturday, again blaming President Joe Biden for the court cases he is facing as the probable Republican nominees prepare to square off in the November 2024 presidential election.

Blasting President Biden as “a total moron,” Trump repeatedly described the cases against him as politically motivated and timed to hurt his campaigning ability in front of a gathering of almost 100,000 people.

“He is a fool. “He’s not a smart man,” Trump stated about Biden. “I talk about him differently now because now the gloves are off.”

Lisa Fagan, a spokesman for the city of Wildwood, where the protest was held, told The Associated Press that she estimated a throng of approximately 100,000 people based on her personal observations on the ground Saturday, having witnessed “dozens” of prior events in the same place.

Several high-profile endorsers joined Trump on stage, including North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum and NFL Hall of Fame linebacker Lawrence Taylor, who pleaded guilty to misdemeanor criminal charges of sexual misconduct and patronizing an underage prostitute in New York in 2011.

The beachfront gathering, described by Rep. Jeff Van Drew, R-N.J., as the largest political gathering in state history, was intended to serve as a show of force at a critical time for Trump, who is facing dozens of felony charges in four separate criminal cases with the election less than six months away.

Massive Crow of Trump Supporters

Thousands of Trump supporters, dressed in “Never Surrender” T-shirts and red “Make America Great Again” hats, gathered onto the sand between the boardwalk and carnival attractions to meet the former Republican president hours before he took the stage.

“The everyday American people are 100% behind him,” said Doreen O’Neill, a 62-year-old Philadelphia nurse.

“They have to cheat and smear him and humiliate him in that courtroom every single day,” O’Neill stated. “This country is going to go insane if they steal the election again.”

Trump has repeatedly accused the Biden administration and Democratic leaders in New York of exploiting the court system to prevent his return to the White House. Prosecutors claim the former president breached the law to conceal an affair with a porn performer that would have jeopardized his first presidential campaign.

On Saturday, Trump said that even those he accuses of politically motivated indictments did not pursue every case they could, citing the boosts his campaign has received with each wave of accusations.

“I heard they were going to do a couple of other things and they said from Washington … ‘we’re indicting him into the White House,'” Trump stated. “They said, ‘Don’t do it.'”

Gag Order from New York Judge

While Trump seized on his legal difficulties on Saturday, a judge’s gag order — and the possibility of incarceration — limit his ability to publicly remark on witnesses, jurors, and anyone involved in the New York trial, which is anticipated to last most of the month. The court in the case has already fined Trump $9,000 for breaking the injunction and warned him he might face jail time if he does not comply.

The order makes no mention of Judge Juan M. Merchan, whom Trump described as “highly conflicted,” or District Attorney Alvin Bragg, both of whom Trump claimed are “doing the bidding for crooked Joe Biden.”

Trump’s role as a defendant has reduced his capacity to persuade voters on the campaign trail.

He spent last week’s off-day from court in Wisconsin and Michigan, both battleground states for the general election. And on Saturday, he campaigned with tens of thousands of voters in New Jersey, a solidly Democratic state.

Parts of New Jersey contain deep-red enclaves, and the southern shoreline in particular attracts tourists and summer homeowners from neighboring Pennsylvania, a vital swing state.

Saturday’s trip to the New Jersey Shore resort was not Trump’s first.

While president, Trump staged a rally in January 2020 to celebrate Van Drew, a New Jersey congressman who had recently defected from the Democratic Party to the Republican Party in response to the former president’s first impeachment.

Trump drew a crowd that lined the streets, packed bars, and supported countless merchants in what is typically a sleepy city in the winter. The summer season is almost here for the resort noted for its large beaches, boardwalk games, and shops.

Wildwood is located in New Jersey’s 2nd District, which Van Drew has served for three terms and includes all or part of six counties in southern New Jersey. It voted for Trump in 2016 and again in 2020, despite previously supporting Barack Obama.