THE consensus among political analysts before Wednesday’s election was that a mandate of less than 60% for the African National Congress (ANC), from just shy of two-thirds of the vote in 2011, would send a clear message that South Africans are not happy and demand change.

Similarly, another two-thirds landslide could justifiably be interpreted as a resounding endorsement of the governing party and President Jacob Zuma’s leadership, despite all that has occurred over the past five years — the violent “service delivery” protests, the Marikana mine shootings, the “Guptagate” and Nkandla scandals, and the apparent disintegration of the tripartite alliance, among so many others.

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