South African President Cyril Ramaphosa was reelected by lawmakers for a second term on Friday.
South African président Cyril Ramaphosa reacts after being reelected as leader of the country in Cape Town, South Africa, on Friday, June 14, 2024.
The 71-year-old Ramaphosa secured his second term with the help of lawmakers from the country's second biggest party, the Democratic Alliance, and some smaller parties. They backed him in the vote and got him over the finish line following the ANC's loss of its long-held majority in a landmark election two weeks ago that reduced it to 159 seats in Parliament.
Ramaphose called the deal — which sent South Africa into uncharted waters — a “new birth, a new era for our country” and said it was time for parties “to overcome their differences and to work together.”The ANC — the famed party of Nelson Mandela — had ruled South Africa with a comfortable majority since the end of the apartheid system of white minority rule in 1994.
For one, the DA disagreed with the ANC government's move to accuse Israel of genocide in Gaza in a highly sensitive case at the United Nations’ top court.“From today, the DA will co-govern the Republic of South Africa in a spirit of unity and collaboration,” he said as he stepped away from Friday's proceedings for a speech carried live on television in which he said a deal was signed and that the DA lawmakers would vote for Ramaphosa for president.
Former President Jacob Zuma's MK Party boycotted the session but that did not affect the voting as only a third of the house is needed for a quorum.
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