South Africa : Cyril Ramaphosa Sworn In As President, Replaces Jacob Zuma
The Oasis Reporters
February 15, 2018
Photo : AFP
Cyril Ramaphosa has been elected as president of South Africa, a day after Jacob Zuma resigned from office following allegations of corruption.
Mr. Ramaphosa’s is scheduled to give the state of the union address tomorrow,Frriday.
Jason Burke , the Africa correspondent of the Guardian reports that Cyril Ramaphosa was elected president of South Africa by a parliamentary vote, less than 16 hours after the dramatic statement by Jacob Zuma resigning from office.
The appointment as head of state of Ramaphosa, who became interim leader following Zuma’s late-night resignation on Wednesday, was announced by South Africa’s Chief Justice in Cape Town, who presided over the vote.
Ramaphosa, wearing a dark suit and red tie, sat quietly while lawmakers from the ruling African National Congress stood, clapped and sang in celebration. He was elected unopposed.
In a short speech, the former deputy president reached out to opposition parties, telling parliamentarians that “South Africa must come first in everything we do” and pledging to fight corruption.
“This is not yet uhuru (freedom). We have never said it is uhuru. We are going to seek to improve the lives of our people on an ongoing basis, and since 1994, we have done precisely that,” Ramaphosa said.
The ANC has a substantial majority in parliament and the vote was effectively a formality. Although deeply divided, the party has already closed ranks after the crisis of recent days and rallied around Ramaphosa.
Party officials who nominated the 65-year-old described him as “a revolutionary cadre who has served the people of South Africa all his life and will strength the unity of our country”.
“Africa and the world are pinning their hopes on your revolutionary leadership,” said Patrick Maesella, an ANC member of parliament.
The Economic Freedom Fighters, a radical leftwing opposition party, walked out of parliament, saying the assembly was illegitimate and new elections were necessary.
Mmusi Maimane, leader of the opposition Democratic Alliance, offered congratulations and pledged his party would “cooperate” if the new president “acts in the interests of the people of South Africa”. Maimane said the country did not have a “Jacob Zuma problem but … an ANC problem”.
A former anti-apartheid activist turned successful businessman, Ramaphosa is the standard bearer for the moderate, reformist faction of the ANC. Zuma, 75, represented the party’s more populist, nationalist elements, commentators say.
Photo : Getty Images / AFP
The former president’s resignation put an end to an intense political crisis that threatened to inflict significant damage on the ANC, which has ruled South Africa since the country’s first free elections in 1994.
In a televised address to the nation late on Wednesday, Zuma said he was a disciplined member of the party, to which he had dedicated his life.
“I fear no motion of no confidence or impeachment,” he said. “I will continue to serve the people of South Africa and the ANC. I will dedicate my life to continuing to work for the execution of the policies of our organisation.
“The ANC should never be divided in my name. I have therefore come to the decision to resign as president of the republic with immediate effect.”
The announcement ended an extraordinary day in South African politics, which began with a dawn raid on the home of the Guptas, a business family at the centre of recent corruption allegations levelled at Zuma.
Ajay Gupta, one of three Gupta brothers accused of having corrupt links to Zuma, was declared a fugitive from justice on Thursday after failing to hand himself into police.
Zuma, who has led the ANC since 2007 and been South Africa’s president since 2009, was due to leave power next year. His tenure has been marred by economic decline and multiple charges of graft, undermining the image and legitimacy of the party that led the struggle against apartheid.
The crisis of recent days has further damaged the ANC, as well as angering many South Africans who are becoming increasingly impatient with the party’s opaque internal procedures.
In December, Ramaphosa won a bitterly fought ANC leadership election. Party strategists wanted Zuma to be sidelined as quickly as possible, to allow the ANC to regroup before campaigning starts for elections in 2019.
The party suffered significant setbacks at municipal polls in 2016 and could be forced into a coalition government at the national level, experts say.
As president, Ramaphosa will have to balance the need to reassure foreign investors and local businesses with the intense popular demand for dramatic measures to address South Africa’s deep problems. The former trade union leader has said South Africa is coming out of a “period of uncertainty, a period of darkness, and getting into a new phase”.
Richard Calland, an expert in South African politics at the University of Cape Town, said the departure of Zuma from office would give Ramaphosa “the chance to rebuild government and the party at the same time”.
In recent days, the rand has strengthened and many analysts have revised upwards their predictions of South Africa’s economic growth.
After Zuma’s address on Wednesday night, the ANC immediately closed ranks. Jessie Duarte, the party’s deputy secretary general, told reporters the ANC was “not celebrating” at a “very painful moment”.
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