South African foes unite in uneasy coalition

15/6/2024 18:00

        For the first time since Nelson Mandela negotiated an end to white minority rule, former sworn enemies are coming together in South Africa under a pledge to overcome ideological differences for the good of the nation.
        
        President Cyril Ramaphosa has said the seismic political shift is a response to voters' demands for solutions to deepening woes - from sky-high unemployment and economic torpor to corruption and failing infrastructure.
        
        But the prospect of the African National Congress - the liberation movement that freed the country from apartheid - governing alongside the white-led Democratic Alliance (DA), does not sit well with many Black South Africans.
        
        "The ANC is siding with the enemy of progress," said 25-year-old ANC voter Nathi Mboniswa, who worried his party risked compromising its values in a partnership with the DA.
        
        In a disastrous showing in elections last month, angry voters dismantled the ANC's 30-year-old majority. With little choice but to share power, Ramaphosa announced he would form a government of national unity open to parties across South Africa's diverse political landscape.