South Africa’s Cyril Ramaphosa was inaugurated in for a second full term as president on Wednesday in Pretoria, after his weaker African National Congress (ANC) reached a governing coalition agreement.
Ramaphosa’s oath of office ceremony was led by Chief Justice Raymond Zondo in front of parliamentarians, foreign visitors, religious and traditional leaders, and applauding supporters at the Union Buildings, the seat of government.
“In the presence of everyone assembled here, and in full realisation of the high calling I assume as President… I Matamela Cyril Ramaphosa swear that I will be faithful to the Republic of South Africa,” Ramaphosa said.
Last week, lawmakers voted decisively to re-elect the 71-year-old, following a May 29 general election with no clear winner.
Several heads of state, including Nigerian President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, Angola’s Joao Lourenco, Congo Brazzaville’s Denis Sassou Nguesso, and Eswatini’s absolute leader King Mswati III, attended the inauguration.
Guests dressed in suits, expensive dresses, and coats to keep warm in the cold winter weather began to arrive early in the morning, accompanied by a large police presence.
VIPs, some of whom were chanting anti-apartheid songs, were permitted to enter a tiny amphitheatre within the towering sandstone government building.
Other spectators, some clutching South African flags, stood on the lawn outside while dancers and musicians played on a large stage.
After Ramaphosa took the oath, a band played the national anthem, followed by a 21-gun salute and a fly past by army helicopters towing large South African flags.
Third time lucky
It was the third time Ramaphosa took the oath.
The former trade unionist turned rich businessman initially came to power in 2018, after his predecessor and competitor Jacob Zuma was forced to resign before the end of his mandate amid corruption charges.
Ramaphosa was then reappointed to a full five-year term in 2019.South African voters elect the parliament, which then votes for the president.
Ramaphosa pledged a new dawn for South Africa, launched an anti-corruption campaign, and began to fix a collapsing energy sector.
However, under his supervision, the economy suffered from power outages, crime was rampant, and unemployment rose to 32.9 percent.
In May, he led the ANC into yet another election, but the late Nelson Mandela’s party emerged battered.
It won only 40 percent — down from 57.5 percent five years earlier.
For the first time since the establishment of democracy in 1994, it lost its absolute majority in parliament and was forced to seek coalition partners in order to stay in office.
It has since agreed to form a “national unity government” with numerous other political parties.
They include the center-right Democratic Alliance (DA), the Zulu nationalist Inkatha Freedom Party, the anti-immigrant Patriotic Alliance, and the minor center-left GOOD party.
Ramaphosa survived a last-minute challenge from Marxist leader Julius Malema, when 283 legislators in the 400-seat National Assembly voted to re-elect him.
However, it has encountered fierce opposition from the left, with Malema’s Economic Freedom Fighters and former President Zuma’s uMkhonto weSizwe (MK) refusing to participate and condemning the inclusion of right-wing groups and the white-led, free-market DA.
MK finished third in the election but is contesting the results.
Nhlamulo Ndhlela, the party’s spokesman, said in a statement that its lawmakers will reject the “farcical inauguration of Cyril Ramaphosa as the puppet DA-sponsored President,” using a racial slur to insult the ANC leader.
Ramaphosa is likely to reveal his cabinet within days of his inauguration, as negotiations with coalition members continue.
