ANC seen losing official opposition status in Western Cape

The populist Economic Freedom Fighters will likely replace the African National Congress as the official opposition in South Africa’s Western Cape after next year’s elections, as support for the ruling party plunges in the province, a survey showed.

The EFF will likely win 15% of the vote in a provincial vote if a 66% turnout is assumed, compared with just 4% in the last national election in 2019, according to the Social Research Foundation survey sent to Bloomberg. The ANC is likely to win 13% of the vote, down from almost 29%, while the province’s ruling Democratic Alliance will likely win 64%, up from 55%.

The ANC, which has ruled South Africa since the end of apartheid in 1994, is losing support across the country amid record power cuts, failing municipalities and corruption scandals. Some survey results show it may lose its absolute national majority for the first time next year.

The Western Cape is the only one of South Africa’s nine provinces not ruled by the ANC. The DA won control of the province in 2009 and has held it ever since.

The SRF, which polled 2 590 people this month. The survey’s margin of error was 2.9%.