South Africa’s DA reaches agreement on unity government according to leader

South Africa’s Democratic Alliance (DA) has reached an agreement on joining a government of national unity with the African National Congress after two weeks of negotiations, DA leader John Steenhuisen has said. Once unthinkable, the deal between two sharply antagonistic parties is the most momentous political shift in South Africa since Nelson Mandela led the ANC to victory in the 1994 elections that marked the end of apartheid. The ANC lost its majority for the first time in an election on 29 May and has spent two weeks locked in intensive behind-the-scenes talks with other parties, which came down to the wire on Friday morning as the new parliament was convening

ANC strikes coalition deal with free-market DA, South Africa media reports