South Africa: Ramaphosa to be inaugurated for second term
Wednesday, June 19, 2024

Cyril Ramaphosa will be inaugurated as South Africa’s president on Wednesday, June 19 in a ceremony that will be attended by various African presidents and delegations from outside the continent.

71-year-old Ramaphosa, who was elected on June 14 by the National Assembly, will be sworn in for a second term after May’s election.

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The inauguration ceremony, to be held in the capital Pretoria, will be attended by Presidents from Africa, namely Nigeria's Bola Tinubu, Angola's Joao Lourenço, Zimbabwe's Emmerson Mnangagwa, Namibia's Nangolo Mbumba, Tanzania's Samia Suluhu, Republic of Congo's Denis Sassou Nguesso, Mauritius' Prithvirajsing Roopun, as well as Eswatini's King Muswati III, among other dignitaries.

Rwanda will be represented by High Commissioner to South Africa Emmanuel Hategeka, according to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation.

A member of the African National Congress (ANC), Ramaphosa first became president in 2018 when his predecessor, Jacob Zuma, was forced to resign amid corruption allegations.

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He was re-elected as president after the ANC, which has governed South Africa since 1994, failed to secure a majority in Parliament in the last and reached a power-sharing agreement with its historic rival, the Democratic Alliance (DA) and other parties.

After inauguration, Ramaphosa is expected to appoint a cabinet, which is to include the new coalition partners – the DA and three other smaller parties. Together, the coalition accounts for 68% of seats in parliament.