South Africa’s coalition government needs to deliver

By John McDermott, Chief Africa correspondent, The Economist

Three decades after the end of white-minority rule, South Africa is in the midst of a new era. In May 2024 the African National Congress lost the parliamentary majority it had held since the election of Nelson Mandela in 1994, as voters punished it for corruption, rising crime and high unemployment. That meant it needed a coalition to stay in power.