The leader of South Africa’s Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP) said the party has agreed to form a national unity government, including the African National Congress (ANC) and the largest opposition party, the Democratic Alliance (DA).
“The only option is to be part of the government or to be part of the opposition,” Werenkosini Hrabisa told reporters at a media briefing in Durban on Wednesday.
“The people of South Africa who voted said that political parties must find common ground,” Mr Hrabisa said.
South Africans have been eager to know who will form the next government after the African National Congress lost its majority in last month’s election.
This is the first official indication that a national unity government has been agreed, although the Democratic Alliance and the African National Congress have yet to comment.
The ANC has previously said it hopes to form a coalition government and has contacted all opposition parties in the country.
The ANC’s vote share fell below 50% for the first time since Nelson Mandela led it to victory in 1994 and ended the racist apartheid regime, forcing them to find a coalition partner.
The ANC received about 40% of the vote, the centre-right Democratic Alliance (DA) 22%, former President Jacob Zuma’s MK party 15% and the radical Economic Freedom Fighters 9%.
The IFP, a conservative party with a strong Zulu base, received about 4% of the vote share in the election.
Many ANC activists prefer a deal with the EFF and MK, both groups led by former senior ANC officials.
Such an alliance would alarm investors, however, as these parties favor seizing white-owned land without compensation and nationalizing the country’s mines.
The business community prefers an alliance between the ANC and the DA.
Bringing in other parties such as the IFP would help deflect criticism that the ANC leadership is “selling out” by working with the DA, which is seen by some South Africans as representing the country’s white minority.
The DA opposed two of the ANC’s core policies: its Black Empowerment Plan, which aimed to allow black people excluded from the economy under apartheid to benefit from the economy; and the National Health Insurance (NHI) Bill, which promised Provide universal health care for all.
“We will participate in a government of national unity for the sake of our country and our people who want life to go on and have a stable government to deal with their challenges,” Hrabisa said.
Mr Hrabisa assured Independent Liberal supporters that the party would not “lose its identity” as they had previously been in coalition governments.
After the historic 1994 election, Mr Mandela’s ANC teamed up with his former foes, the National Party, responsible for imposing apartheid, and the Liberal Party, whose supporters often clashed with ANC activists, Resulting in thousands of deaths.
