The Anc Will Establish A Partnership With The Inkatha Freedom Party Of South Africa

The leader of South Africa’s Inkatha Freedom Party said Wednesday it will join a proposed government of national unity, a step toward ending the country’s political deadlock after the long-ruling African National Congress(ANC) lost its parliamentary majority in last month’s election. The announcement by Velenkosini Hlabisa means an agreement between some major parties to form a coalition government with the ANC becomes more likely ahead of a Friday deadline, when South Africa’s new Parliament will sit for the first time since the May 29 election and attempt to elect a president.

The ANC had been the governing party for 30 years since the end of the apartheid system of white minority rule in 1994, but only received 40% of the vote in this election. It remains the biggest party but needs to form an agreement with others to govern and reelect President Cyril Ramaphosa for a second and final term. South Africans vote for parties in national elections and they get seats in Parliament according to their share of the vote. Lawmakers then elect the president of Africa’s most industrialized country.

All 17 of the parties represented in Parliament were invited to join the ANC’s proposal to form a government of national unity, although some parties declined. Hlabisa told reporters that the IFP was willing to join a unity government that includes the ANC and the Democratic Alliance, which is South Africa’s main opposition party and received the second-largest share of the vote.