By East African Gazette
South Africa
President Cyril Ramaphosa was sworn in at the Union Buildings by Chief Justice Raymond Zondo in Pretoria City to form a coalition government .
Ramaphosa formed a coalition government, after his African National Congress (ANC) party lost to a parliamentary majority in the recent
elections.
This the first coalition government in which no party has a majority after the ANC party failed to win a majority seat for the governance. The government will be composed of three parties to what the ANC is calling for a government of national unity. President Nelson Mandela was the first ANC president who only ruled for one term and for the election that followed, the ANC has been winning the elections with majority seats.
The President received a 21-gun salute by the presidential guard and a fly-past by the South Africa Air Force over the Union Buildings. The
musicians and cultural dancers entertained the guests.
In his maiden speech, Ramaphosa said people of South Africa have also been unequivocal in expressing their disappointment and disapproval of our performance in some of the areas in which they have failed.
“The voters of South Africa did not give any single party the full mandate to govern our country alone. They have directed us to work together to address their plight and realize their aspirations,” Ramaphosa said.
South African society remains deeply unequal and highly polarized which could easily turn into instability, he asserted.
He promised to create new opportunities to ease the issue of unemployment and also to improve social services like housing, healthcare and clean water.
The Democratic Alliance party, Inkatha Freedom Party, Patriotic Alliance, GOOD Party and the Pan Africanist Congress are some that have agreed to form a coalition government.
“The lines drawn by our history, between black and white, between man and woman, between suburbs and townships, between urban and rural,
between the wealthy and the poor, remain etched in our landscape,” he said.
Some of the special guests included were the Vice President of Uganda Jessica Alupo, King Mswati III of Eswatini, Nigerian President Bola
Tinubu,Zimbabwe President Emerson Mnangagwa and former Kenyan Prime Minister Raila Odinga.
The former president of South Africa Jacob Zuma, the head of the third largest party Sizwe party which is the third largest party, did not attend.
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