On Friday, Cyril Ramaphosa was re-elected as the President of South Africa. This happened during the first meeting of the National Assembly of the 7th Parliament. The meeting took place at the Cape Town International Convention Centre.
The ruling party, the African National Congress (ANC), shared the news on social media platform X. They posted, “Honourable Matamela @CyrilRamaphosa has been re-elected as the President of the Republic of South Africa.”
This re-election comes after the ANC reached a broad agreement with the main opposition party and other parties to form a coalition government. This move was necessary because the ANC lost its 30-year majority in an election held two weeks ago. The coalition aims to end a political deadlock in the country.
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
#ANCInParliament… pic.twitter.com/DsEV1pOmCy— African National Congress (@MYANC) June 14, 2024
The election took place on May 29, out of the 339 ballot papers issued, 12 were invalid. Ramaphosa won 283 votes, defeating Julius Malema, the leader of the Economic Freedom Fighters, who received 44 votes.
Ramaphosa’s nomination for president was put forward by ANC Member of Parliament Mdumiseni Ntuli. The nomination was supported by Velenkosini Hlabisa, the leader of the Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP). The voting process was overseen by Chief Justice Raymond Zondo.
This marks Ramaphosa’s second term as president, he first became President of South Africa on February 15, 2018, and was re-elected after the 2019 elections on May 22, 2019.
Since the first democratic election in 1994, the ANC has been the dominant political force in South Africa. The country’s main opposition party is the Democratic Alliance (DA), which is centre-right and led by John Steenhuisen. The DA was formed by merging the Democratic Party and the New National Party.
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