SOUTH AFRICA: DA Head-Will Meet w/MPC Parties @ Weekend, Could Broaden Group

Leader of the main opposition liberal Democratic Alliance (DA) John Steenhuisen has said that he intends to meet with other members of the 'Multi-Party Charter' electoral alliance this weekend in order to see if it can be extended to include other parties. The MPC includes the DA, the regionalist Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP), the Afrikaner-interest Freedom Front Plus (FF Plus) and the centrist ActionSA, among others. 

• The MPC was formed ahead of the election as a loose alliance with the sole uniting factor being opposition to the ANC. As such, reaching any broad agreement on policy stances or similar is slim. 
• Earlier, Steenhuisen said when asked that 'of course' the DA would want to be part of a coalition gov't, but that the party was not currently in talks with any other parties. 
• With 60.05% of votes counted, the ANC continues to lead with 41.88% support, with the DA on 23.11%. Former President Jacob Zuma's MK continue to outperform, sitting in third with 11.60% support nationwide (largely in KZN, where the party is currently sitting on 44.19% of the vote), and the extreme-left Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) in fourth with 9.48%.