JOHANNESBURG (AP) — Cyril Ramaphosa was sworn in for a second term as president of South Africa on Wednesday in a ceremony in the administrative capital, Pretoria.
Ramaphosa must now name a Cabinet in a new coalition government, after his African National Congress party lost its parliamentary majority in last month’s elections.
He was re-elected president by lawmakers on Friday with the help of the main opposition party and a smaller third party that joined the ANC in a coalition agreement to co-govern Africa’s most industrialized economy.
Ramaphosa was sworn in at the Union Buildings, the seat of government, by Chief Justice Raymond Zondo.
Current and former African heads of state and diplomats were among the many guests and dignitaries who attended the inauguration, as Ramaphosa begins what promises to be a difficult final term. He will have to guide the first coalition government in which no party has a majority in South Africa’s democratic history, after the ANC lost its 30-year political dominance. At least three parties will form what the ANC calls a national unity government, with more invited to join.
Dignitaries present at the inauguration included King Mswati III of Eswatini, Nigerian President Bola Tinubu, Zimbabwe President Emerson Mnangagwa and former Kenyan Prime Minister Raila Odinga.
___
