Ramaphosa set for re-election with coalition deal
Published: 06:06 PM,Jun 14,2024 | EDITED : 10:06 PM,Jun 14,2024
Newly elected Speaker of Parliament Thoko Didiza reacts during the first sitting of the National Assembly following elections in Cape Town
CAPE TOWN: South Africa's President Cyril Ramaphosa has secured a coalition agreement between his African National Congress (ANC) party and the former opposition party Democratic Alliance (DA) shortly before the vote in parliament on Friday.
John Steenhuisen, a leading DA politician, said in Cape Town that a 'new chapter' was beginning in South Africa after two weeks of intensive negotiations.
The declaration to form a government of national unity was signed and stated that the a coalition, which includes other parties, is in the interests of all South Africans. Following an election defeat, the ruling ANC party failed to secure an absolute majority for the first time in the country's democratic history. The ANC, the party of former anti-apartheid fighter Nelson Mandela, suffered a massive loss of power in the parliamentary elections on May 29. It is the first time in 30 years that it must form a coalition government.
Meanwhile, ANC and its largest rival, the white-led, pro-business DA agreed on Friday to work together in South Africa's new government of national unity, a step change after 30 years of ANC majority rule. Once unthinkable, the deal between two sharply antagonistic parties is the most momentous political shift in South Africa since Nelson Mandela led the ANC to victory in the 1994 elections that marked the end of apartheid.
'Today, South Africa is a better country than it was yesterday. For the first time since 1994, we've embarked on a peaceful and democratic transfer of power to a new government that will be different from the previous one,' DA leader John Steenhuisen said in a televised address.
'From today, the DA will co-govern the Republic of South Africa in a spirit of unity and collaboration,' he said, adding that multi-party government was the 'new normal'. - Agencies
John Steenhuisen, a leading DA politician, said in Cape Town that a 'new chapter' was beginning in South Africa after two weeks of intensive negotiations.
The declaration to form a government of national unity was signed and stated that the a coalition, which includes other parties, is in the interests of all South Africans. Following an election defeat, the ruling ANC party failed to secure an absolute majority for the first time in the country's democratic history. The ANC, the party of former anti-apartheid fighter Nelson Mandela, suffered a massive loss of power in the parliamentary elections on May 29. It is the first time in 30 years that it must form a coalition government.
Meanwhile, ANC and its largest rival, the white-led, pro-business DA agreed on Friday to work together in South Africa's new government of national unity, a step change after 30 years of ANC majority rule. Once unthinkable, the deal between two sharply antagonistic parties is the most momentous political shift in South Africa since Nelson Mandela led the ANC to victory in the 1994 elections that marked the end of apartheid.
'Today, South Africa is a better country than it was yesterday. For the first time since 1994, we've embarked on a peaceful and democratic transfer of power to a new government that will be different from the previous one,' DA leader John Steenhuisen said in a televised address.
'From today, the DA will co-govern the Republic of South Africa in a spirit of unity and collaboration,' he said, adding that multi-party government was the 'new normal'. - Agencies