The South African National Assembly elected Cyril Ramaphosa as the President of the Republic for a second consecutive term. On Friday, 283 members of the National Assembly voted in favor of Ramaphosa, who emerged from the recent legislative elections. Judge Raymond Zondo, who presided over the election session, declared: "His Excellency Cyril Ramaphosa is duly elected" after he won by a wide margin against the candidate from the radical leftist Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF), Julius Malema, who received 44 votes.
The South African Parliament, resulting from the legislative elections held at the end of May, convened to elect a head of state before forming a first-of-its-kind "centrist" coalition government between the African National Congress (ANC) and the Democratic Alliance, the largest opposition party. It was anticipated that Parliament would re-elect Ramaphosa, even though his party, the ANC, which has been in power for thirty years, lost its absolute majority in the National Assembly.
The ANC still holds a majority by securing 159 seats out of 400 in Parliament. The Democratic Alliance (center-right), which won 87 seats, announced that they reached an agreement to form a national unity government with the ANC. For the first time since the transition to democracy in the republic in 1994, the ruling ANC party lost its parliamentary majority, marking its worst electoral performance ever and now requires the support of other parties to govern.
It is worth noting that in South Africa, the President is elected by the National Assembly, and after election, the President appoints ministers for their government. Cyril Ramaphosa was first elected as President of South Africa in 2018 following the resignation of President Jacob Zuma, nearly a year before the end of his term. After completing Zuma's term, Ramaphosa was elected for his first full term in 2019. The South African Constitution allows for two terms in office, each lasting five years.
