South African President Cyril Ramaphosa Sworn In
South African President Matamela Cyril Ramaphosa began his second term on Wednesday, 19 June, after he took the oath of office at the Union Buildings in Pretoria.
Ramaphosa’s African National Congress (ANC) share of the vote fell to 40% in the 29 May 2024 general election, from 57% in 2019, the party’s worst election result since apartheid ended in South Africa in 1994.
Despite the humiliation, Ramaphosa made it clear that he accepted and respected the results as he officially began his second term at the helm of a government of national unity (GNU) incorporating the white-dominated party, the Democratic Alliance (DA) and other smaller parties. Said Ramaphosa (via IOL):
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 realise their aspirations.
They have expressed their appreciation for the progress in many areas of their lives over the past 30 years of democracy.
They have also been unequivocal in expressing their disappointment and disapproval of our performance in some of the areas in which we have failed them.
Above all, the people of South Africa have stressed that they are impatient with political bickering and the endless blame game among politicians and political parties.
They want us to put their needs and aspirations first and they want us to work together for the sake of our country.
Ramaphosa noted that despite the progress and milestones achieved, South African society remains deeply unequal and highly polarised. He said:
There are toxic cleavages and an incipient social fragmentation that can easily turn into instability. 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.
In some places, these lines may have faded, but they have not disappeared. We are citizens of one country and yet we occupy different worlds, separated by high walls and great distances.
Ramaphosa said anarchists and those seeking the collapse of the State will not succeed in their machinations. He said:
We must reject every attempt to divide or distract us, to sow doubt or cynicism, or to turn us against one another.
Those who seek to stand in our way, those who seek to inflame tensions, will not succeed, because South Africans are resolute.
Those who seek to undermine our institutions will fail because democracy lives in the hearts of our people and will never be dislodged.
Several heads of State from different parts of the world including Zimbabwean President Emmerson Mnangagwa were at the Union Buildings to witness Ramaphosa’s inauguration.
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