SOUTH AFRICA ELECTIONS 2024: GLOBAL IMPLICATIONS
Introduction and Background
South Africa headed to the polls on 29 May 29 2024 for a general election that had been described as
the most heavily contested in the country’s history. The outcome saw the ruling African National
Congress (ANC) lose its majority for the first time in 30 years, garnering just over 40% of the vote. This
put the country on a new political path for the first time since the end of apartheid as the ANC was to
form a coalition government with other parties or enter into a government of national unity. In her
opening remarks, moderator Dr Kabaso Kabwe, from the African Centre for the Study of the United
States noted that while the negotiations had not been finalised, the webinar was convened to discuss
the global implications of this election outcome for South Africa’s foreign policy, it’s role on the global
stage, as well as the future of its youth.
