PRESIDENT Jacob Zuma’s second term and final five years in office was confirmed on Saturday night as the Electoral Commission of South Africa (IEC) declared the African National Congress the majority party in the National Assembly.
Addressing the announcement of the results last night, Mr Zuma got down to the business of his legacy, saying the ANC’s renewed mandate gave the party the "green light" to implement the National Development Plan — the country’s 30-year blueprint for development.
It is imperative that Mr Zuma drives development and delivery in his second term, as his detractors and South Africa’s opposition parties have criticised him for rolling back progress registered by his predecessors.
However, as a second-term president, the prospect of power shifting in the ANC looms large.
News, views and analysis of South Africa's national and provincial electionsThe new mandate for the ANC was also a "licence" for the party to continue with its infrastructure build programme, which is among the cornerstones of the party’s plan to create jobs in the forthcoming term.
While the ANC received a large majority of the vote with 62.15%, its grip on power dipped slightly from 2009 when it received 66% of the vote.
The largest knock for the ruling party was in Gauteng where its grip on power loosened considerably, with the party obtaining 53.6% in the province — down from 64% in 2009.
Mr Zuma said the ANC’s performance confirmed how "deeply rooted" the party was "in the hearts and minds of South Africans".
The ANC fought a tough campaign ahead of the 2014 polls, in the midst of deep divisions in the ranks of its ally, the Congress of South African Trade Unions.
The election was also off the back of the party’s internal election in Mangaung. After the conference in the Free State at the end of 2012, its Limpopo province executive committee was disbanded as well as its youth wing, the ANC Youth League.
The leadership of the ANC in Gauteng escaped what was widely perceived to be a purge of Mr Zuma’s detractors after Mangaung, but the showing in the polls could hit the provincial leadership hard going forward.
Senior leaders of the party have, however, said a careful analysis of the party’s performance in the province will have to be conducted before jumping to conclusions.
Mr Zuma himself came under fire ahead of the polls but was largely shielded by the ANC brand.
Calls for his impeachment were made by opposition parties after Public Protector Thuli Madonsela released a report into the security upgrades to Mr Zuma’s Nkandla residence and found that he and his family had unduly benefited from them.
The run-up to the polls was also coloured by service-delivery protests and deep dissatisfaction over electronic tolling on the country’s roads, in Gauteng in particular.
Mr Zuma said the ANC’s performance in the election confirms that the party had indeed a "good story" to tell.
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