ANC shaken as South African voters look beyond race

On the surface, white South African ex-farmer Athol Trollip seems an unlikely candidate for mayor of a metropolitan district named after the African National Congress’s great liberation hero, Nelson Mandela.

Yet local elections this week have shown a shift in South African society and politics, which have been dominated by race since Mandela swept to power in 1994.

The results may even mark the start of a new era, distinct from the ‘post-apartheid’ period that immediately followed the end of white-minority rule, as the ANC wakes up to the changed reality that it can no longer rely on the unquestioning support of poor black voters.