Cyril Ramaphosa Sworn In for Second Term as President of South Africa

In a ceremony held in the administrative capital of South Africa, Pretoria on Wednesday, Cyril Ramaphosa, the head of the African National Congress (ANC), which is in power in South Africa, was sworn in as the country’s president for the next five years.

“As the President of the Republic, I will work with everyone to reach out and work with every political party and sector that is willing to contribute to finding solutions to the challenges our country faces as we transition to a new decade of freedom,” Ramaphosa said in his address at the ceremony.

On June 14, the National Assembly, the lower house of parliament, reelected 71-year-old President Ramaphosa of South Africa with 283 votes. Julius Malema of the Economic Freedom Fighters, his rival, received forty-four votes. The president-elect must take office within five days of being chosen by the National Assembly in accordance with the South African Constitution.

Ramaphosa announced that all parties, labor unions, businesses, and other organizations will be invited to participate in a national conversation about the pressing issues confronting the country.

He added that, “We will seek, as we have done at so many important moments in our history, to forge a social compact to realize the aspirations of our National Development Plan”.

For the first time, the ANC’s 30-year-old outright majority in the lower chamber of parliament was not maintained as it only garnered 159 out of 400 members in the National Assembly at the general elections on May 29.

Five political parties—the ANC, Democratic Alliance, Inkatha Freedom Party, GOOD, and Patriotic Alliance—have formally signed a declaration of intent to take part in the government of national unity, according to an announcement made by the ANC on Monday.