Cyril Ramaphosa takes oath of office as South Africa’s President for second term

Cyril Ramaphosa, the leader of South Africa’s ruling African National Congress (ANC), was sworn in as the nation’s president for the next five years on Wednesday in Pretoria, the administrative capital.

Ramaphosa, 71, was re-elected as South African president by the National Assembly on June 14, receiving 283 votes against the other nominee, Julius Malema from the Economic Freedom Fighters, who garnered 44 votes.

According to the South African Constitution, once elected as president by the National Assembly, the president-elect must assume office within five days.

In the general elections on May 29, the ANC secured 159 out of the 400 seats in the National Assembly, marking the first time the party has fallen below the 50 per cent threshold needed to maintain its 30-year-old outright majority in the lower house of parliament.

(NAN)