What the world is saying about the local government election results

06 August 2016 - 13:24 By TMG Digital

With the local government elections just about done and dusted‚ here’s a look at what some of the international media have been saying about the outcome: FINANCIAL TIMES: “Its share [The ANC] of the vote in local elections sank to 55 per cent in a humiliation for President Jacob Zuma‚ who has survived a number of scandals and been blamed by many for overseeing a corrupt administration that has betrayed the party’s core principles.”THE GUARDIAN: “But there is a deeper trend that points to some of the paradoxes of South Africa’s transition. The failure to spread access to the good life – to schools and healthcare and work – is obvious. People look around after more than 20 years of one-person‚ one-vote and see that opportunities have gone to some‚ while many others are still on the sidelines.”THE TELEGRAPH: “A new era of coalition politics in South Africa has put paid to two decades of ‘arrogant’ one-party rule‚ analysts said on Friday‚ with the African National Congress expected to be ousted from the leadership of the country’s capitals.BUSINESSMIRROR: “South Africa’s political opposition made gains in key metropolitan areas in municipal elections‚ though the ruling African National Congress (ANC) remained in the lead overall‚ according to early results released on Thursday.”THE EAST AFRICAN: “The results may even mark the start of a new era‚ distinct from the ‘post-apartheid’ period that immediately followed the end of white-minority rule‚ as the African National Congress wakes up to the changed reality that it can no longer rely on the unquestioning support of poor black voters.”The NEW YORK TIMES: “The African National Congress‚ the party that helped liberate black South Africans from white-minority rule but has become mired in corruption‚ endured its worst election since taking power after the end of apartheid‚ according to results released on Friday.”INDIAN EXPRESS: “The ANC has lost support among voters who feel their lives have not improved and the opposition has accused Zuma of mismanaging the economy. Millions of urban voters are now looking beyond its liberation struggle credentials and focusing on an economy teetering on the edge of a recession.”NIGERIA TODAY: “The decline in support for the A.N.C. was especially sharp in the nation’s eight major cities‚ where a growing number of black‚ middle-class voters turned against the politics of patronage personified by Mr. Zuma and increasingly resisted the A.N.C.’s emotive appeals to its heroic past.”AL JAZEERA ENGLISH: “It’s a pretty humbling day for the ANC‚ which is trying to put a positive spin on things.”DW-WORLD: “South Africa’s voters have shown the ANC the yellow card. They are fed up with what the ANC‚ respected as a herald of democracy and human rights during Nelson Mandela’s era‚ has become.”..

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