ANC Support Near 40% Weeks Before Election, Ipsos Poll Shows

Support for South Africa’s governing African National Congress (ANC) has fallen to just over 40%, an Ipsos opinion poll showed, weeks before a general election that could usher in the biggest political change since the end of the apartheid era. While the ANC is still on track to win the most votes on May 29, if it gets less than 50% support it would have to seek one or more coalition partners to govern the country, the first such alliance since the party swept to power under liberation hero Nelson Mandela 30 years ago. “The uncertainty and apprehension surrounding the potential outcome and consequences of the 2024 elections echo the feelings experienced by the nation on 27 April 1994,” Ipsos said in a statement, referring to the first post-apartheid elections. As well as voting for a new parliament, which will then choose the next president, South Africans will vote for provincial legislatures in next month’s election. President Cyril Ramaphosa is seeking a second term. Ipsos estimated support for the ANC at 40.2%, down from 40.5% in a similar poll released in February and 43%...