African National Congress (ANC) National Executive Committee (NEC) member and police minister Bheki Cele. (Photo by PHILL MAGAKOE/AFP via Getty Images)
Several high-ranking ANC MPs, including Police Minister Bheki Cele, Defence Minister Thandi Modise and International Relations and Cooperation Minister Naledi Pandor have failed to secure seats in the National Assembly, by virtue of where they were placed in the party’s parliamentary list.
Following last week’s landmark national and provincial election, several ministers lost their seats after the emergence of former ANC and South African president Jacob Zuma’s uMkhonto weSizwe (MK) party as the third-largest in the country.
The breakaway party secured 2.3 million votes, and 58 seats in the National Assembly, translating to 14.6% of the total vote share, and brought the ANC below the 50% plus 1 it needed to continue governing alone.
Labour and Employment Minister Thulas Nxesi, Social Development Minister Lindiwe Zulu and the deputy minister of cooperative governance Parks Tau narrowly missed the cutoff.
Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma, the minister in the presidency responsible for women, youth and persons with disabilities, announced her retirement last year, as did Public Enterprises Minister Pravin Gordhan and Trade, Industry and Competition Minister Ebrahim Patel.
The determination of who secured seats was based on party lists of election candidates submitted to the Electoral Commission of South Africa (IEC), in accordance with the final results declared on 2 June.
The ministers who lost their seats were ranked below number 73, the last guaranteed seat in parliament on the national ballot, as confirmed by allocations released by the IEC.
The ANC secured a further 86 seats to parliament through the regional ballot.
The party experienced its most significant electoral setback in three decades, with its vote share dropping 17 percentage points from 57.5% in 2019 to 40.18%.
The Inkatha Freedom Party experienced a slight increase to 17 seats from its previous 14, taking 3.85% of the votes nationally.
Its president Velenkosini Hlabisa leads its parliamentary delegation, along with chief whip Narend Singh and outgoing standing committee on public accounts chairperson Mkhuleko Hlengwa.
The Patriotic Alliance (PA) got nine seats, the Freedom Front Plus four (down from six in 2019), the African Christian Democratic Party (ACDP) three (down from four) and the United Democratic Movement two.
PA leader Gayton McKenzie tops the party’s National Assembly list, but its deputy president Kenny Kunene is not on it. Kunene said he was happy to carry on as mayoral committee member for transport in the Johannesburg metro.
“It’s not about me, it’s about the deployment of the party, it’s about the party saying we need your strength and your skill there.
“I would love to stay where I am now and continue with the work I’m doing as an MMC for transport and take it to 2026,” he said.
The African Transformation Movement maintained its two seats — with its leader Vuyo Zungula returning to parliament — after earlier fears that the party might not make the numbers required.
Al Jama-ah got two seats (from one in 2019), the Pan Africanist Congress retained its single seat and the Good party went down from two seats in 2019 to one.
Rise Mzansi and Bosa each got two seats in the National Assembly.
The Democratic Alliance (DA) maintained its position as South Africa’s official opposition party, securing 3.5 million votes, equivalent to 21.81% of the total, resulting in 87 seats, up from 84 in 2019.
The DA, with nearly 22% of the vote, is the second-largest party, followed by the MK party, which performed extremely well in Zuma’s home province of KwaZulu-Natal.
The DA’s top five are leader John Steenhuisen, Ashor Sarupen, Dion George, Sibongiseni Vilakazi and Andrew Whitfield, with chief whip Siviwe Gwarube at number 12.
The Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) saw a decline in the elections, securing 39 seats, down from its 2019 tally of 44.
Despite being ranked 40th and 41st on the EFF’s national candidate list, former public protector Busisiwe Mkhwebane and former cabinet spokesperson Mzwanele Manyi secured spots in the final list submitted to the IEC.
Naledi Chirwa, who has fallen out of favour with the Red Berets’ leader Julius Malema, did not make the cut.
Returning to parliament, on the ANC’s list are familiar faces such as Blade Nzimande, Dina Pule, David Mahlobo, Malusi Gigaba and Faith Muthambi.
ANC MPs who came back via the Gauteng regional-to-national list include Angie Motshekga and Collen Masina, with Bejani Chauke, a former adviser to President Cyril Ramaphosa, also avoiding the chop.
The majority of Limpopo regional nominees also made it back, including the health minister Joe Phaahla.
Small Business Development Minister Stella Ndabeni-Abrahams and the National Assembly house chairperson of committees Cedric Frolick are among the better-known MPs who clinched their returns via the Eastern Cape, where the ANC got 62.4% of votes.
However, former deputy public enterprises minister Phumulo Masualle missed out, landing just beyond the 16th spot cutoff at 17.
While the former MPs are entitled to their pensions and loss-of-office gratuities, they lose their R1.2 million annual income and numerous other perks, according to parliamentary spokesperson Moloto Mothapo.
Exactly who the MK party is sending to parliament — and to the provincial legislatures — is still not clear. The party has threatened to boycott parliament after requesting a re-vote over its claims of rigging. It has threatened legal action, along with 25 smaller parties.
MK party spokesperson Nhlamulo Ndhlela said the party had not submitted a new parliamentary list to the IEC, despite some of its members being removed from the party.
Party founder Jabulani Khumalo, Lebo Moepeng and Rochelle Davidson are among those who have been removed by the party, while Zuma was removed by the IEC after he was found to be ineligible to stand for a parliamentary position because of his 2021 conviction and 15-month jail term for contempt of court.
Ndhlela said Ray Khumalo and Bheki Manzini — who were fired along with Jabulani Khumalo — have since been cleared and brought back to the organisation and to its parliamentary lists.
Jabulani Khumalo and others will be moved to the bottom of the party list, which would only be amended after the first parliamentary sitting.
“People like Jabulani Khumalo will be moved to the back end, even at number 400,” Ndhlela said.
ActionSA, one of the parties which contested national and provincial elections for the first time, secured six seats in parliament.
Its parliamentary delegation will be led by Athol Trollip, a former Nelson Mandela Bay mayor, and Kgosi Letlape, the former chairperson of the South African Medical Association.
The ANC will by Monday announce its premier candidates for the provinces which it retained, and those in which it is likely to lead the coalition that emerges. Gauteng premier Panyaza Lesufi tops its list, but the party, whose vote share in the province dropped to 34.76% from 50.19% in 2019, will need to secure a coalition agreement if he is to return to office.
Sitting premiers Oscar Mabuyane in the Eastern Cape, Mxolisi Dukwana in the Free State and Zamani Saul — who will also need a coalition partner to govern in the Northern Cape — top their provinces’ three-person premier lists, while Mandla Ndlovu is the ANC ’s first choice to lead Mpumalanga.
KwaZulu-Natal, where the ANC now holds only 14 seats in the 80-member provincial legislature, has not nominated a premier candidate.
Its sitting premier, Nomusa Dube-Ncube, is not among those who will make it back to the legislature
On Wednesday, spokesperson Mahlengi Bhengu-Motsiri said three names were put forward and voted on by delegates at extended provincial executive committee meetings, attended by its alliance partners, which were overseen by the ANC’s electoral committee.
She said two of the candidates from each province were women and that the candidates would be interviewed over the coming days by the party’s top seven officials.
Their names would be made public next week, ahead of the first sitting of the provincial legislatures on 17 and 18 June, which would elect premiers, speakers and deputy speakers.
In Limpopo, where health minister Phophi Ramathuba is the first choice to stand as premier, five additions were made to the ANC provincial list, sparking claims of foul play from party members in the province.
According to ANC sources, Thabo Mabotja, an ordinary party member; Nandi Ndalane, the MEC for social development; Che Selane, who is an ordinary member; Dowelani Nenguda, a regional executive committee member in Vhembe; and Mihloti Mhlophe, the treasurer in Vhembe, were added to the list.
ANC spokesperson Jimmy Machaka Mathole confirmed that five names had been removed, but declined to provide further details.