Focus turns to coalition talks as South Africa awaits final

ANC says demands that President Cyril Ramaphosa must step down is ‘no-go area’ as rival Jacob Zuma stokes fears of violence

The position of South Africa’s president, Cyril Ramaphosa, is a “no-go area” for coalition talks, the general secretary of the African National Congress has said, before the announcement of final results from last week’s election, in which the party lost its majority for the first time in 30 years of full democracy.

Ramaphosa’s bitter rival, the former president Jacob Zuma, whose new party came a surprise third, said the results announcement should not go ahead. Zuma said “people would be provoked”, raising the spectre of the deadly riots that broke out when he was sent to prison in 2021.