 "Cyril Ramaphosa re-elected as President of South Africa after ANC struck deal with pro-business party")
South Africa’s African National Congress (ANC) party supremo Cyril Ramaphosa was reelected as the president of the country days after the election results plundered his party’s stronghold. His re-election came hours after ANC struck a coalition deal with the Democratic Alliance (DA).
The pro-business party decided to set aside its decades-old rivalry with the ANC to formulate a historic government pact. Ramaphosa won the late Friday vote against Julius Malema, leader of the far-left Economic Freedom Fighters, to continue holding his presidential position.
Around 283 lawmakers voted in favour of Ramaphosa and only 44 people supported Malema’s nomination. Many believe that the South African president-elect’s centrist preferences ultimately won out over more leftwing factions of the ANC. Interestingly, the deal was struck amid criticism that the DA favours the interest of South Africa’s white minority.
A historic loss made the ANC compromise
The party that played a key role in dismantling the apartheid regime lost its parliamentary majority in the 29 May elections. This was the first time the ANC lost its majority since it swept to power in the historic 1994 elections.
While ANC remained the largest party, its vote share collapsed from 57.5 per cent in 2019 to 40.2 per cent in the 2024 polls. The rise in defection within the party amid chronic unemployment and worsening public services, also contributed to the ANC losing its majority.
Meanwhile, the DA received 22 per cent of votes in this year’s elections. After supporting Ramaphonsa, the free-market party expressed its intention to vote for an ANC speaker in parliament as well. In return, the party will seek the deputy speaker position, The Guardian reported.
Impact Shorts
More Shorts“Today, the DA becomes a party of national government,” party leader John Steenhuisen, told a press briefing.
“Through their votes, the people have made it clear that they do not want any one party to dominate our society. The people have also told us that the time for finger-pointing is over and that the time for a new politics of collaboration and problem-solving has arrived," he added.
After the coalition was formed, the legislators were sworn in at a convention centre in Cape Town, while the parliament building was still being renovated after a fire in 2022.
The two parties signed a “statement of intent” that included a commitment to a “merit-based, nonpartisan and professional civil service”. In the past, ANC has been criticised for appointing its supporters to public sector positions, known in South Africa as “cadre deployment”, with many claiming that it fosters corruption.
Two other smaller parties, the Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP), a Zulu nationalist party, and the Patriotic Alliance (PA) said that they would love to be part of the government as well. The latter pushed to bring back the death penalty and expressed the intention to deport illegal immigrants.
With inputs from agencies.
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