SOUTH AFRICA: ActionSA Withdraws From MPC, Won't Work w/ANC, Blames DA

The centre-right ActionSA has withdrawn from the broad opposition Multi-Party Charter (MPC), claiming that it refuses to countenance working with the governing African National Congress (ANC) in any governing coalition. The party, led by former Johannesburg Mayor Herman Mashaba, blames the liberal Democratic Alliance (DA) for its withdrawal from the MPC, claiming that the second-largest party in the National Assembly has broken the alliance's agreement never to work with the ANC. 

• ActionSA won six of the 400 seats in the 29 May election, meaning that while not crucial to forming the next coalition its participation could have proved important given the fine margins that potential coalitions could be working with. Its withdrawal limits the number of moderate parties that could offer their backing to a potential ANC-DA tie-up. The inclusion of smaller parties in such a deal is seen as necessary to balance the racial profile of any such gov't, given the view of some of the DA as the party representing South Africa's white community. ActionSA garners its support in Gauteng province around Johannesburg, positioning itself as a 'nonracial' party. 
• The suggestion of a 'national unity' gov't put forward by the ANC on 5 June - which would include the DA alongside the extreme-left Economic Freedom Fighters - looks extremely unlikely to come to fruition given the major political, economic, and cultural differences between the potential parties involved. 
• The tail-risk of an ANC-EFF or ANC-MK gov't remains significant given the strong objections by some senior figures within the ANC towards working with the DA.