Cyril Ramaphosa secures second term as South African President
Appointment
5 min read
Cyril Ramaphosa has secured a second term as the President of South Africa after he was elected by the South African Parliament in a late night sitting on 14 June 2024. Cyril Ramaphosa was re-elected after a deal was signed between his African National Congress (ANC) Party and the centre-right Democratic Alliance (DA) and other smaller parties to form a coalition government.
Cyril Ramaphosa was elected as the President of South Africa for the first time on 15 February 2018.
For the first time since the implementation of the 1996 constitution, the ruling ANC party has failed to secure a majority in the South African Parliament. The ANC got only 40 per cent of the votes in the parliamentary election held on 29 May 2024.
This is the second national unity government to be formed in South Africa after the great black leader Nelson Mandela formed a national unity government in 1994,after the end of apartheid in the country.
Election of President in South Africa
According to the 1996 constitution of South Africa, the President of the country is elected by the Parliament of the country .
The Parliament of South Africa is a bicameral house that consists of the National Assembly and the National Council of Provinces. The National Assembly is the lower house of the South African parliament and consists of 350- 400 members who are directly elected by the people for a five-year term through a proportional representation system.
The National Council of Province is the upper house of the Parliament, whose members are elected by the Provincial Assemblies of South Africa.
The President is elected by the members of the Parliament. However, only a member of the Parliament can be elected as the President of South Africa.
Term of the South African President and His Power
The South African president is elected for a term of five years.
The President is the Head of the State and the head of the executive in the country. The President appoints the Deputy President Cabinet Ministers and has the power to dismiss them. The President also has the power to appoint a member of the Cabinet to be the leader of government business in the National Assembly.
About the Republic of South Africa
South Africa lies at the southernmost tip of the African continent.
South Africa officially practised a policy of apartheid (racial segregation) after gaining independence from Britain in 1931.
Political and economic power was concentrated in the hands of the country’s white population while the majority black population, coloured populations (mixed races), and Asian population(Indian, Chinese, Malays, etc) were discriminated against and denied political and other rights.
The apartheid ended in 1994, and black leader Nelson Mandela was elected as the first Black President of South Africa in 1994.
Capital of South Africa: It has three capitals.Pretoria (executive), Cape Town (legislative), and Bloemfontein (judicial).
Currency: Rand
President: Cyril Ramaphosa
