South Africa’s long-standing ruling ANC on Thursday said it has reached an agreement with several other parties to form a coalition, after failing to win an outright majority in May’s general election.
Speaking on the eve of the first sitting of the newly-elected parliament, party secretary general Fikile Mbalula said the government would “gravitate to the centre”, after leftist parties shunned the deal.
The agreement means President Cyril Ramaphosa is likely to be appointed for a second term when lawmakers convene in Cape Town on Friday.
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Mbalula described the coalition as a national unity government and said it was to include the centre-right Democratic Alliance (DA), the Zulu nationalist Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP), the small centre-left United Democratic Movement, and right-wing Afrikaner Freedom Front Plus (FF+).
The radical leftist Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) was left out as talks with the party led by firebrand politician Julius Malema did not bear fruit, Mbalula said.
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