Ramaphosa re-elected as South African president
Cyril Ramaphosa has been elected for a second term as president of South Africa.
The ANC leader was re-elected at the first sitting of the National Assembly at the Cape Town Convention Centre on Friday.
Chief Justice Raymond Zondo presided over the sitting, which saw Ramaphosa nominated by new ANC chief whip Mdumiseni Ntuli.
Ramaphosa came up against EFF leader Julius Malema, who was nominated by UDM MP Nqabayomzi Kwankwa.
He received 238 votes while Malema received only 44 votes.
Ramaphosa's re-election came after some two weeks of negotiations with various political parties to form a government of national unity.
The plan was proposed by the ANC after it failed to obtain outright majority during the general elections on 29 May, a first for the party since the dawn of democracy in South Africa.
After days of negotiations, the ANC finally reached an agreement with the DA and IFP to form a government of national unity.
The agreement will apply nationally and in various provinces where the ANC failed to obtain an outright majority.
Announcing the decision to the media on Friday, DA leader John Steenhuisen said the party agreed to support Ramaphosa's election for a second term.
In exchange, the DA was given the position of the deputy speaker of the National Assembly, which was taken by Annelie Lotriet.
She received 273 votes while the other candidate, ATM leader Vuyo Zungula, only received 54 votes.
Lotriet will be working with the ANC's Thoko Didiza, who was elected as the new speaker of the National Assembly.
While decision to work with the DA will help the ANC remain in power, it has caused some consternation among the party's alliance partners.
Throughout the negotiations, the South African Communist Party (SACP) and the Congress of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu) maintained that the decision to work with the DA will not benefit the working class.
The alliance partners said their preferred option would have been a minority government with smaller parties.
The voting process was not without challenge, before the speaker opened for nominations, EFF Deputy President Floyd Shivambu raised on a point of order to inform her of the party's decision to submit an urgent application for impeachment of Ramaphosa.
The party wante the Phala Phala case to be revisited.
Earlier last year, an Independent Panel set up by Parliament found prima facie evidence that Ramaphosa had violated his oath of office during and following the robbery at his Phala Phala farm in Limpopo in February 2020.
"The EFF’s Draft Resolution to the 7th Parliament is to establish a full impeachment committee in terms of Rule 129(J) and in terms of Section 89(1) of the Constitution," said Shivambu.
Didiza noted the point of order, and informed the EFF that the matter was addressed by the 6th administration.
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