Ramaphosa Re-Elected as South African President Amid Historic Coalition Deal
South Africa’s parliament has re-elected Cyril Ramaphosa as the country’s president following a historic coalition deal between the governing African National Congress (ANC) and opposition parties12. This new government of national unity combines Ramaphosa’s ANC, the center-right Democratic Alliance (DA), and smaller parties. In a dramatic turn of events, Ramaphosa secured his second term just hours before the vote. His victory came with the support of politicians from the DA, South Africa’s second-largest party. The ANC had lost its long-held majority in a landmark election two weeks prior, reducing its parliamentary seats to 1591. The coalition deal marks the first time in 30 years that the ANC has lost its majority. The ANC, once led by Nelson Mandela, had ruled South Africa comfortably since the end of apartheid in 1994. Now, a government of national unity aims to bridge ideological differences and foster collaboration among the parties3. Ramaphosa called this agreement a “new bi