Guiding clients every step on the South African election

Reuters customers had the information they needed first at every step as South Africa voted in the most hard fought election since the end of apartheid in 1994. While there was no doubt the ruling African National Congress would win, the size of the majority was important for markets. Both the smooth conduct of the poll and the fact the majority fell below the critical two-thirds level were significant, alongside global factors, in helping to strengthen the rand. It rose by over two percent against the dollar between the end of polling on April 22 and market’s close on Friday April 24. Reuters kept a rolling table of results going through the count as the ANC hovered near the two-thirds level and was then ahead of competitors in reporting the final result – 65.9 percent. Reuters had forecast in an analytical story on April 20 that the ANC would lose the two-thirds majority that lets it change the constitution, a concern for markets at a time of worries that president-to-be Jacob Zuma could bend to pressure from leftist and union allies on policy. Ahead of the election, Zuma did his best to assuage any such concerns in an interview with Reuters, his last with an international agency before the poll. As well as guiding markets,Reuters news and analysis was widely cited by media both in South Africa and internationally.