South Africa’s parliament has re-elected Cyril Ramaphosa as the country’s president following a landmark coalition agreement between the ruling African National Congress (ANC) and opposition parties.
The new national unity government combines Mr. Ramaphosa’s ANC, the center-right Democratic Alliance (DA) and smaller parties.
In his victory speech, Mr Ramaphosa praised the new coalition and said voters expected leaders to “act and work together for the benefit of everyone in our country”.
The deal came on a day of political drama, as Congress sat late into the evening to vote on who would take power in the new administration.
A deal was reached after weeks of speculation over who the ANC would partner with after losing its parliamentary majority for the first time in 30 years in last month’s election.
It received 40% of the vote, while the DA came in second with 22%.
ANC Secretary General Fikile Mbalula called the coalition agreement a “remarkable step”.
That meant that Mr Ramaphosa – who replaced Jacob Zuma as both president and leader of the ANC after a bitter power struggle in 2018 – was able to retain power.
The next step is for Mr Ramaphosa to allocate cabinet positions, which will include members of the DA.
The multi-party deal does not involve the two ANC breakaway parties and they are likely to benefit if it does not deliver the economic improvements voters demand.
However, opinion polls show that many South Africans want this unprecedented coalition to succeed.
The ANC has consistently polled above 50% since the country’s first democratic election in 1994, which saw Nelson Mandela become president.
However, support for the party has dropped significantly because of discontent over high levels of corruption, unemployment and crime.
Speaking before the South African parliament after being approved, Mr. Ramaphosa recalled his party’s first presidential victory 30 years ago.
“We have been here before, we were here in 1994, when we sought to unite the country and realize reconciliation – and now we are here,” he said.
A coalition between the centre-right DA and the ANC is unprecedented as the two parties have been rivals for decades.
Under Nelson Mandela, the ANC led the campaign against the apartheid system and won the country’s first democratic elections.
Critics of the DA have accused it of trying to protect economic privileges enjoyed by the country’s white minority during the apartheid era – a charge the party denies.
Addressing lawmakers late Friday in Cape Town, DA leader John Steenhuisen said: “Today is a historic day for our country and I think this is the beginning of a new chapter”.
The National Assembly also swore in the appointment of a speaker from the ANC, while the position of vice-president went to the DA.
Among the party leaders who spoke after Friday’s agreement was Julius Malema, head of the Economic Freedom Fighters Party – the party he founded after leaving the ANC in 2013.
He said while his party accepted “the results and the voice of the South African people”, he criticized the deal and said: “We do not agree to this marriage of convenience, aimed at consolidating power white man’s monopoly over the economy and means.” Made in South Africa.”
