Johannesburg: South African President Cyril Ramaphosa said on Thursday he would try to form a national unity government after the African National Congress (ANC) failed to win a clear majority in last week’s general election.
After several hours of discussion, Ramaphosa said the ANC leadership had tried to unite with a large number of opposition parties from the right to the left.
The ANC won 40 percent of the vote – its lowest score – and needed the support of other parties to stay in power for the first time since democracy was established in 1994.
“That’s why we agreed to call on political parties to form a government of national unity as the best option to move our country forward,” he said.
He said ANC negotiators held talks with several parties, including the left-wing Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF), the Zulu nationalist Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP), the center-right Democratic Alliance (DA) and the anti-immigrant Patriotic Alliance. PA).
It is not yet clear whether all of them agreed to join.
