South Africa: Ramaphosa retains presidency amid uneasy coalition deal

South Africa’s Cyril Ramaphosa on Friday retained his position as president after days of uneasiness in forming a coalition government.

In a race to meet the timeline for electing a president, the African National Congress (ANC) struck a deal with the Democratic Alliance (DA) party.

The DA used to be one of the ANC’s fiercest political foe but it had to seek support from it to remain in charge of the government.

The deal allowed Ramaphosa to secure the needed vote to remain as leader of Africa’s most industrialized economy.

Ramaphosa won convincingly in the Parliamentary vote against Julius Malema, the leader of the far-left Economic Freedom Fighters.

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Ramaphosa won 283 votes to Malema’s 44 in the 400-member house.

After the vote on Friday, he pledged to work with politicians across the political spectrum.

“I will serve all and work with even those who did not support me,” Ramaphosa told the National Assembly in Cape Town.

The ANC lost its 30-year parliamentary majority in a landmark election two weeks ago.

This means that the ANC for the first time would have to govern with other political parties since no party has a majority.

The radical left Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) and populist uMkhonto we Sizwe refused to participate in a government that included the DA.

“History will judge you and judge you harshly,” Malema said. “This is not a government of national unity. This is a grand coalition between the ANC and white monopoly capital.”

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Source: Africafeeds.com