CAPE TOWN, South Africa (AP) — South African President Cyril Ramaphosa opened a new parliamentary term on Thursday, almost two months after a historic election result reformed the country’s politics and led to the formation of a unprecedented multi-party government coalition.
Ramaphosa’s address to lawmakers at Cape Town City Hall, a replacement venue after parliament building was destroyed by fire two years ago, marked the official launch of the new coalition, which brings together at least ten parties to govern. The most industrialized country in Africa.
Ramaphosa said his diverse government, despite political differences, was united in tackling South Africa’s three biggest challenges: an unemployment crisiscrippling poverty and inequality, and the failure of state institutions which have been eroded by corruption and neglect, blamed on Ramaphosa’s own African National Congress party.
The May 29 elections were a landmark election for South Africa as voters were frustrated over these three issues and others, resulting in the worst ever result for the ANC, which lost the majority it had held for 30 years since the end of the apartheid system of racial segregation and white minority rule.
“Despite the achievements of 30 years of democracy … millions of South Africans are still poor, unemployed and living in a deeply unequal society,” said Ramaphosa, who, as he has done before, admitted that the ANC had some shortcomings.
“The circumstances in South Africa today require us to work together,” Ramaphosa added.
Ramaphosa’s speech marked the start of what South Africa calls “the seventh government” – only the seventh government formed since the country was liberated from the racist apartheid system in 1994 and people of all races were allowed to vote.
The speech was largely a call for unity across the political divide and was generally applauded by lawmakers. This is not surprising given that so many parties represented in parliament are now part of the governing coalition, including the main Democratic Alliance, which was once the ANC’s fiercest political foe.
This means that South Africa also has a new official opposition party, the newly founded MK party led by Jacob Zuma, a former South African president and leader of the ANC, who has turned against the movement and become Ramaphosa’s fiercest critic.
MK lawmakers were generally submissive to Ramaphosa and the new government in their first session in parliament, as were members of the far-left Economic Freedom Fighters, who have formed an opposition alliance with MK. Zuma was not in the least bit he was disqualified from standing as a Member of Parliament due to a criminal conviction and prison sentence in 2021 for contempt of court.
Ramaphosa, once a political protégé of Nelson Mandela, is entering his second and final five-year term, though the lowly election result for his once-dominant ANC meant he count on support from all parties to be re-elected was appointed president by lawmakers last month.
His challenge will be to hold together a broad coalition with glaring political differences in the face of deep problems in a country that is supposed to embody the hope of the African continent. South Africa’s sky-high unemployment rate is 32 percent — the highest in the world. It is considered the most unequal country in the world in terms of wealth distribution, while its economy has been stagnant for more than a decade.
To address this, Ramaphosa said that his coalition governmentcalled a “government of national unity,” it would prioritize growth and jobs by creating new opportunities in nearly every sector, including mining, agriculture, small business and green energy, while eliminating corruption and red tape.
He gave few policy details in a broad-brush speech meant to bring the country together after a hotly contested and divided election to venture into unknown territory.
“Parties coming together is a historic moment for our country,” Ramaphosa said. “We share a commitment to reconcile our nation.”
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