The South African parliament has re-elected Cyril Ramaphosa as the country’s president in the aftermath of a landmark coalition deal between the governing African National Congress (ANC) and opposition parties.
The new government of national unity had merged Ramaphosa’s ANC, the centre-right Democratic Alliance (DA) and smaller parties.
Ramaphosa had during his victory speech, lauded the new coalition, and remarked that voters expected the leaders to “to act and to work together for the good of everyone in our country”.
The agreement was brokered on a day of intense political drama, which saw the National Assembly sitting late into the evening for votes to authenticate who would lead the new administration.
Previously, a deal was concluded following weeks of speculation about whom the ANC would partner with after the party lost its parliamentary majority for the first time in 30 years during last month’s elections.
ANC had gotten 40% of the vote, while the DA came second with 22%.
What this means is that Ramaphosa who replaced Jacob Zuma as both the president and ANC leader in 2018 was now able to hang onto power.
Ramaphosa is still tasked with appointing cabinet positions, which will include members of the DA.
What They’re Saying
While addressing South Africa’s parliament after his confirmation,
Ramaphosa recalled the party’s first presidential victory 30 years ago.
“We have been here before, we were here in 1994, when we sought to unite our country and to effect reconciliation – and we are here now,” he said.
This alliance between the centre-right DA and the ANC is a remarkable feat as the two parties have rivalled for decades.
Under the leadership of Nelson Mandela, the ANC political party spearheaded the campaign against the racist system of apartheid and won the country’s first democratic elections.
