South Africa faces escalating unrest if ANC doesn't reform, opposition says

FILE PHOTO: Leader of South African opposition party, the Democratic Alliance (DA) Mmusi Maimane arrives for the party's election manifesto launch in Johannesburg, South Africa, February 23, 2019. REUTERS/Siphiwe Sibeko/File Photo

JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - South Africa faces escalating unrest if the governing African National Congress (ANC) party retains power in next month's election and fails to introduce major reforms, the leader of the country's biggest opposition party said on Thursday.

In the most hotly contested election since the end of apartheid in South Africa, President Cyril Ramaphosa is hoping to reverse a slide in support for the ANC, which has won every general election since Nelson Mandela swept to power in 1994.