Why did the ANC lose its long-held majority? As they headed to the polls to cast their verdict on the ANC for the seventh time since 1994, South Africans had a lot to complain about. A stubbornly high unemployment rate, which officially hit 32.9% last year but in reality is much higher; persistent economic inequalities; rampant corruption, and a lack of public service delivery, particularly in poorer areas, all contributed to the dethroning of the ANC.