South Africa’s parliament has re-elected Cyril Ramaphosa as the country’s president, following a historic coalition agreement between the African National Congress (ANC) and opposition parties.
The new national unity government combines Mr Ramaphosa’s ANC, the centre-right Democratic Alliance (DA) and smaller parties.
The agreement was discussed on a day of great political drama, which saw the South African National Assembly meet until Friday night to vote to confirm who will hold power in the new administration.
Earlier, a deal was reached after weeks of speculation over who the ANC would partner with after losing its parliamentary majority for the first time in 30 years in last month’s elections.
It obtained 40% of the votes, while the DA came in second with 22%.
ANC secretary-general Fikile Mbalula called the coalition agreement a “remarkable step”.
This meant that Ramaphosa – who replaced Jacob Zuma as president and leader of the ANC after a bitter power struggle in 2018 – was able to maintain power.
The ANC has consistently polled above 50% since the country’s first democratic elections in 1994, which saw Nelson Mandela become president.
However, support for the party has declined significantly due to outrage over high levels of corruption, unemployment and crime.
An alliance between the center-right DA and the ANC is unprecedented as the two parties have been rivals for decades.
Under Nelson Mandela, the ANC led the campaign against the racist apartheid system in 1994 and won the country’s first democratic elections.
Critics of the prosecution have accused it of trying to protect the economic privileges that the country’s white minority built up during apartheid – a charge the party denies.
Addressing lawmakers on Friday evening in Cape Town, John Steenhuisen, the leader of the DA, said: “Today is a historic day for our country and I think it is the beginning of a new chapter.”
The National Assembly also swore in an ANC president, while the position of vice president went to the DA.
