South Africa is slowly souring on its ruling party

JACOB ZUMAANCANCANCANCANC, South Africa’s former president, was fond of saying that the African National Congress () would rule until Jesus came back. Given his party’s performance in local elections on November 1st, “Christ alive!” would be an understandable reaction. The won about 46% of the vote—the first time it has dipped under 50% in a nationwide ballot since apartheid ended in 1994. The results suggest that if there is to be a second coming, it is unlikely to be by the party of Nelson Mandela.The ’s slide has two causes. First, black South Africans, who are 80% of the population and constitute the ’s base, were more likely to stay at home than minorities, who tend to support other parties. Turnout in townships, which are nearly all black, was 40-45%, estimates Dawie Scholtz, a psephologist. By contrast 55-65% of voters in suburbs, which are more mixed, went to the polls. The second is that more of the black South Africans who voted chose parties other than the .