President Cyril Ramaphosa of South Africa was re-elected to a second term following the formation of a historic coalition government by his humbled ANC.
After the May 29 general election yielded no clear winner, lawmakers in Cape Town overwhelmingly agreed on Friday to reinstate Ramaphosa, 71, for a further five years in office.
In his acceptance speech, Ramaphosa declared, “I am humbled and honoured that you, as members of the National Assembly, have… decided to elect me to be the President of the Republic of South Africa.”
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The election brought an end to the African National Congress, led by the late Nelson Mandela, for thirty years, and signaled a historic turning point for South Africa.
With barely forty percent of the vote, the anti-apartheid party lost its absolute majority in parliament for the first time.
It has now reached an agreement to establish a unity government.
“This is a historic juncture in the life of our country, which requires that we must work and act together,” Ramaphosa stated.
ANC Secretary General Fikile Mbalula said on Friday the broad coalition brings together a majority of the 18 parties that won representation in the 400-seat National Assembly.
These include the centre-right Democratic Alliance (DA), the Zulu nationalist Inkatha Freedom Party and other smaller groups.
Ramaphosa was re-elected by fellow MPs with 283 votes in a secret ballot.
He saw off a last-minute challenge by Julius Malema, the firebrand leader of the radical leftist Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF), whose candidacy gained 44 votes.
Next week in Pretoria, Ramaphosa will take office and introduce his new cabinet.
With President Xi Jinping congratulating him on his reelection, and Russian President Vladimir Putin saying, “We highly appreciate your personal contribution to the development of strategic partnership between our countries, as well as productive Russian-South African cooperation within the UN, BRICS, the G20 and other multilateral organizations,” South Africa’s BRICS allies Russia and China celebrated Ramaphosa’s victory on Saturday.
In addition to congratulating Ramaphosa, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky praised South Africa’s “joint efforts to restore just peace in Ukraine.”
