South African foes unite in uneasy coalition

For the first time since Nelson Mandela negotiated an end to white minority rule, former sworn enemies are coming together in South Africa under a pledge to overcome ideological differences for the good of the nation.
President Cyril Ramaphosa has said the seismic political shift is a response to voters’ demands for solutions to deepening woes – from sky-high unemployment and economic torpor to corruption and failing infrastructure.
But the prospect of the African National Congress – the liberation movement that freed the country from apartheid – governing alongside the white-led Democratic Alliance (DA), does not sit well with many Black South Africans.
“The ANC is siding with the enemy of progress,” said 25-year-old ANC voter Nathi Mboniswa, who worried his party risked compromising its values in a partnership with the DA.
In a disastrous showing in elections last month, angry voters dismantled the ANC’s 30-year-old majority. With little choice but to share power, Ramaphosa announced he would form a government of national unity open to parties across South Africa’s diverse political landscape.