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If the ANC really got its comeuppance in the local elections, it wouldn’t receive a single vote.

However, more than 12 years after Jacob Zuma was first sworn into office as our nation’s president, the people of South Africa have finally shown that they’re tired of being taken for a ride.

Sheesh, it took long enough.

With around 65% of the vote counted, the ANC is still well out in front, with roughly 46% of the votes countrywide.

However, political analysts aren’t mincing their words, with Ralph Matshekga telling TimesLIVE he believes “this is the beginning of the end of the ANC”:

Voter apathy has dealt the ANC a deadly blow in the recent local government elections — and many experts believe it could be a precursor to the party’s future fortunes…

“The DA also proved to be more resilient than I thought, and this shows that the ANC’s decline is really serious. The ANC has been the biggest loser in this election and that was expected, but the poor voter turnout means that there is no coming back,” [Matshekga] said.

Associate professor at the Wits University’s school of governance, William Gumede, also stuck the boot in:

 “We are at a point where the ANC’s dominance is over, and they will need coalitions, even in a national election. This trend cannot be reversed, no matter what they say.”

…“It’s too late for the ANC because when you have been dominant as a political party and then you drop under 50%, there is a psychological thing that happens in society and among your own allies, when they start deserting you,” he said.

What we’re looking at now is the need for coalition governments in many parts of the country that were once easy wins for the ANC.

Having spent the lead-up to the election pointing out their rivals’ flaws and follies, dealmaking and compromises will now become the order of the day.

In Gauteng, newcomers ActionSA, led by Herman Mashaba, will likely wield a great deal of power, as will the Freedom Front Plus.

The DA has Cape Town in the bag, whilst a coalition government looks likely in Nelson Mandela Bay.

You can read more on that here.

To get a snapshot of what things look like, as of 8:15AM, here’s what News24’s election forecaster is showing:

As lovely as it is to see the ANC finally feel the heat, the woeful voter turnout numbers are a sign of a democracy in decline.

Not only have we lost faith in the ruling party, but we appear to have lost faith in the political system as a whole.

[source:timeslive]