Election will take place on May 8, Ramaphosa announces in Sona
The date of May 8 is strategic for President Cyril Ramaphosa to manage the difficult dynamics within the ANC
The 2019 general election will take place on May 8, President Cyril Ramaphosa announced during his state of the nation address (Sona) on Thursday. Ramaphosa said that after consultation with the Electoral Commission of SA (IEC) and premiers of the nine provinces, he intended to proclaim that date for the sixth democratic election. The fifth term officially ends on May 6 and the elections have to be held thereafter. Ramaphosa's announcement kicks off election season, with political party campaigns set to start when the date is gazetted. The ANC faces its toughest election yet, after its consistent decline in electoral support both in general and local elections over the last decade. It will have to put up a fight to retain the country's economic hub, Gauteng, in which its support slipped below 50% in the 2016 local elections and two key metros, Tshwane and Johannesburg, were lost. Opposition parties too are on shaky ground, with the DA facing debilitating internal contradictions and ...
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