South Africa’s parliament has re-elected Cyril Ramaphosa as the country’s president following a landmark coalition deal between the governing African National Congress (ANC) and opposition parties.
The new government of national unity combines Mr Ramaphosa’s ANC, the centre-right Democratic Alliance (DA) and smaller parties.
The agreement was hashed out on a day of high political drama, which saw South Africa’s National Assembly sitting late into Friday night for votes to confirm who will hold power in the new administration.
Earlier, a deal was struck following weeks of speculation about who the ANC would partner with after losing its parliamentary majority for the first time in 30 years in last month’s elections.
It got 40% of the vote, while the DA came second with 22%.
ANC secretary-general Fikile Mbalula called the coalition deal a “remarkable step”.
It meant Mr Ramaphosa – who replaced Jacob Zuma as both president and ANC leader following a bitter power struggle in 2018 – was able to retain power.
[ON AIR] Cyril Ramaphosa addressing the first sitting of the 7th administration after being re-elected as South Africa’s President. #eNCANewsNight #DSt403 pic.twitter.com/NkdriWobGr
— eNCA (@eNCA) June 14, 2024
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