Ihembe, Martin AyankaaIsike, ChristopherOnwuzuruigbo, Ifeanyi2025-06-122025Martin Ayankaa Ihembe, Christopher Isike & Ifeanyi Onwuzuruigbo (11 Apr 2025): Coalition or Government of National Unity? Critical reflections on the 2024 elections in South Africa, Politikon, DOI: 10.1080/02589346.2025.2488576.0258-9346 (print)1470-1014 (online)10.1080/02589346.2025.2488576http://hdl.handle.net/2263/102778This paper examines the 2024 general elections in South Africa which was reminiscent of the 1994 electoral ecology in terms of the high stakes. The pre- and post-election ecology of the recent elections exhibited characteristics of Key's critical elections, given the depth and intensity of involvement. With a 40.18% voter share, the African National Congress's (ANC) 30-year electoral dominance was over, thereby making a coalition government at the centre inevitable. Relying on the primary and secondary sources, the paper interrogates the electoral process that led to South Africa's first multi-party government at the centre. While the ANC terms the resultant government a Government of National Unity (GNU), the paper contends that conceptually, what materialised falls within a coalition typology scholars insightfully labelled as “contract parliamentarism,” with a dose of “confidence and supply agreement.” The contract found expression in the ‘statement of intent’ signed by the coalition partners.en© 2025 South African Association of Political Studies. This is an electronic version of an article published in Politikon : South African Journal of Political Studies, vol. , no. , pp. , 2025. doi : 10.1080/02589346.2025.2488576. Politikon : South African Journal of Political Studies is available online at : http://www.tandfonline.comloi/cpsa20.General electionsSouth Africa (SA)Coalition governmentMulti-party governmentGovernment of national unity (GNU)Postprint Article