South Africa’s parliament has re-elected Cyril Ramaphosa as the country’s president following a landmark coalition deal between the governing African National Congress (ANC) and opposition parties.
The new government of national unity combines Mr Ramaphosa’s ANC, the centre-right Democratic Alliance (DA) and smaller parties.
The agreement was hashed out on a day of high political drama. The National Assembly in Cape Town swore in a speaker from the ANC and the post of deputy speaker went to the DA.
Friday’s deal came after weeks of speculation about who the ANC would partner with after losing its parliamentary majority for the first time in 30 years in last month’s elections.
It got 40% of the vote, while the DA came second with 22%.
ANC secretary-general Fikile Mbalula called the coalition deal a “remarkable step”.
It meant Mr Ramaphosa – replaced Jacob Zuma as both president and ANC leader following a bitter power struggle in 2018 – was able to retain power.
The ANC had always polled above 50% since the country’s first democratic elections in 1994, which saw Nelson Mandela become president.
However, support for the party has been dropping significantly because of anger over high levels of corruption, unemployment and crime.
An alliance between the centre-right DA and the ANC is unprecedented as the two parties have been rivals for decades.
The ANC led by Nelson Mandela led the campaign against the racist system of apartheid in 1994 and won the country’s first democratic elections.
The DA’s critics have accused it of trying to protect the economic privileges the country’s white minority built up during apartheid – a charge the party denies.
John Steenhuisen, the leader of the DA, said it would change the course of the country and called the deal a “new chapter in our history”.
