South African voters went to the polls for the municipal elections on Monday, Nov. 1. The next day at Glasgow, the deal between South African President Cyril Ramaphosa and the leading powers of the Green New Deal was announced: South Africa would undertake to accelerate its exit from coal in exchange for a package of concessional loans and grants totaling $8.5 billion, to green the country with more windmills imported from Germany and more solar panels. South Africa currently relies 90% on coal for its electricity.
South Africa’s submission was then happily praised by Boris Johnson, Joe Biden, Angela Merkel, Ursula von der Leyen, and Emmanuel Macron, each of whom made a little speech about it on Nov. 2. But on Nov. 4, back home in South Africa, the electoral returns were in: For the first time ever, the ruling ANC (led by President Ramaphosa) got less than 50% of the vote—in Johannesburg and Pretoria, 34%. Newzroom Afrika even headlined its coverage, “Calls Increase for Ramaphosa To Step Down,” and mentioned the advent of the hashtag, “RamaphosaMustGo,” which had 15,000 occurrences as of Saturday, Nov. 6.
Ramaphosa had been actively campaigning around the country. When he cast his vote in Soweto, he was booed. The Sowetans then marched to city hall to protest electricity prices and the government’s poor service delivery.
Most voters know little of COP26, but they know all about “load-shedding,” the now-routine shutoffs of electricity. And they also know the intertwined issues of COVID lockdowns and higher-than-ever unemployment at first hand. This gives a special meaning to the deal with Ramaphosa in Glasgow to accelerate the exit from coal: The claim that it is South Africa’s salvation is subject to severe doubt, or disbelief, across the population.
The voter turnout was low at 47%, down 11% from the last municipal election in 2016. The two main opposition parties also did poorly; many votes went to small “identity” parties. Local governments in many places will now be formed of coalitions of the losing parties—the ANC, Democratic Alliance, and Economic Freedom Fighters—and the lesser parties.
