Cyril Ramaphosa and the governing African National Congress (ANC) handily won South Africa’s national election on May 8, its sixth since the transition to democracy in 1994, securing 57 per cent of the vote. Although the campaign was often divisive, in the end Nelson Mandela’s party managed to rally behind Ramaphosa, who faced stiff opposition from key figures within the ANC.

In many ways, the ANC was running against itself. The official opposition — the centre-right Democratic Alliance — came in a distant second with 21 per cent of the vote, slightly less than its 2014 total. The left-wing populist Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF), which has garnered significant media attention inside and outside the country and has helped to redefine the policy terrain by introducing a more robust approach to politics, made a strong showing with almost 11 per cent of the vote.

Foreign Policy