Ramaphosa to be sworn in for second term as South African president

• South African President Cyril Ramaphosa has assumed a second term.
• Ramaphosa, first elected in 2018, was sworn in at a public ceremony on Wednesday by Chief Justice Raymond Zondo.
• Ramaphosa's African National Congress, the party to which revolutionary geopolitical figure Nelson Mandela once belonged, won the narrowest plurality in its history, forcing the formation of a coalition government.

Cyril Ramaphosa was sworn in for a second term as South Africa's president on Wednesday at a ceremony in the administrative capital, Pretoria, after his re-election with the help of a coalition of parties, the first in the country's 30 years of rule.

Ramaphosa is now set to name a cabinet in a new coalition government after his party, the African National Congress, lost its parliamentary majority in last month's elections. He was re-elected president by lawmakers on Friday after the main opposition party and a smaller third party joined the ANC in a deal to co-govern Africa's most industrialized economy.

He will have to lead the first coalition government in which no party has a majority. At least three parties will make up what the ANC calls a national unity government, and more are invited to join.

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Ramaphosa was administered the oath of office in a public ceremony at the Union Buildings, the seat of government, by Chief Justice Raymond Zondo.

King Mswati III of Eswatini, Nigerian President Bola Tinubu, Zimbabwean President Emerson Mnangagwa and former Kenyan Prime Minister Raila Odinga were among the many dignitaries who attended the inauguration ceremony as Ramaphosa begins the which promises to be a difficult last term.

The ceremony included a 21-gun salute by the presidential guard and a flyover by the South African Air Force over the Union Buildings. South African cultural musicians and dancers entertained thousands of citizens who attended the swearing-in.

Addressing the nation, Ramaphosa said the people had spoken and their will would be respected.

“South Africa's voters did not give any party the full mandate to govern our country alone. They have mandated us to work together to address their plight and realize their aspirations,” he said.

Ramaphosa said the people of South Africa “have also been unequivocal in expressing their disappointment and disapproval at our performance in some of the areas where we have failed them.” He also acknowledged that society “remains deeply unequal and highly polarized,” which could “easily turn into instability.”

“The lines drawn by our history, between whites and blacks, between men and women, between suburbs and townships, between urban and rural, between the rich and the poor, remain etched in our landscape,” he said.

He also promised that the new government would create new job opportunities to address crippling unemployment, as well as work to provide people with basic services such as housing, healthcare and clean water.

While Ramphosa's words were intended to reassure a population already in economic difficulty, leading the new administration could prove difficult.

It is made up of parties that are ideologically opposed and disagree on how to address the country's many challenges, including land redistribution policies and proposed solutions to the electricity crisis, as well as their opposing views on affirmative action.

Major players such as the Democratic Alliance and the Inkatha Freedom Party have already joined the coalition, and others such as the Patriotic Alliance, the GOOD Party and the Pan Africanist Congress are expected to follow.

However, the third largest party, led by former president Jacob Zuma, the uMkhonto weSizwe party and the leftist Economic Freedom Fighters party have refused to be part of it.

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It is unclear when the formation of the new Cabinet will be announced.