South Africa: President Ramaphosa re-elected for a second term
Virendra Pandit
New Delhi: South Africa’s President Cyril Ramaphosa, 71, has been re-elected for a second term of five years after a late-night coalition agreement with the opposition parties, the media reported on Saturday.
This came after the ruling Black-majority African National Congress (ANC) lost its parliamentary majority for the first time in 30 years since the ending of Apartheid in 1994. The emerging political situation forced the ANC to partner with its fiercest rival, the minority Whites-led Democratic Alliance (DA), and other parties.
The ANC signed an agreement with the DA during the parliamentary session and just hours before the vote for president, ensuring Ramaphosa returned as leader of Africa’s most industrialized economy. The parties will now co-govern South Africa in its first national coalition where no party has a majority, an unprecedented situation.
“Honourable Matamela @CyrilRamaphosa has been re-elected as the President of the Republic of South Africa during the First Sitting of the National Assembly of the 7th Democratic Parliament tonight at Cape Town International Convention Centre,” said the ANC on its X handle.
The ANC, founded by the legendary Dr. Nelson Mandela, has been in power since it ended the Whites’ Apartheid regime, which was marked by years of oppression against the native Black community by immigrant mainly European colonialists.
This will be the first time the ANC is partnering with the DA. At least two other smaller parties will also be part of the agreement that put South Africa into uncharted waters with the first coalition government in history.
The political agreement was necessary after the ANC lost its 30-year majority in a humbling national election last month. The ANC has governed South Africa so far with a comfortable majority.
That three-decade dominance ended in the May 29 election, when the ANC’s share of the vote dropped to 40 percent amid discontent from South Africans over high levels of poverty, inequality, and unemployment.
All the parties have said they would put their differences aside to work in the best interests of the country.
While the ANC managed 40.29 percent, the DA secured over 21 percent of the votes. uMkhonto we Sizwe (MK), a new party led by former president Jacob Zuma, managed to grab 14.71 percent in the first election it contested. MK and the far-left Economic Freedom Fighters have called for parts of the economy to be nationalized. The focus was on which parties the ANC chose to form a coalition government.
Cyril Ramaphosa easily won the late Friday vote against Julius Malema, leader of the far-left Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF). Ramaphosa got 283 votes and Malema just 44. Meanwhile, Thoko Didiza of the ANC was elected as Speaker, and Annelie Lotriet of the DA as Deputy Speaker.
India and South Africa share a strategic partnership and Cyril Ramaphosa shares friendly ties with Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Ramaphosa’s elections thus come as good news for India, which, during the G20 Summit hosted by New Delhi in September 2023, paved the way for the African Union to be included in the bloc as it strives to become an important voice for the Global South.
While congratulating PM Modi on his re-election, Ramaphosa emphasized last week the importance of the two countries’ continued cooperation to promote the agenda of the Global South, notably the reform of the global system of governance, and to align positions in international fora in the interest of strengthening multilateral organizations.
In his victory speech, President Ramaphosa hailed the new coalition, and said voters expected the leaders to “act and to work together for the good of everyone in our country.”
He is expected to announce his new Cabinet after his inauguration on Wednesday next. “We were voted for by six million people who want us to continue the transformational agenda to changing the lives of the people for the better,” said ANC Secretary General Fikile Mbalul.
