The opposition Democratic Alliance party will cooperate with Ramaphosa if he acts in the interests of the South African people, said party leader Mmusi Maimane.
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South Africa’s National Assembly is due to formally elect Cyril Ramaphosa as President this afternoon.
Ramaphosa was elected president on Thursday by South African lawmakers without a vote as he was the only candidate nominated in the parliament in Cape Town. President Emmerson Mnangagwa was quick to pay his tribute, something not to have been envisaged under his predecessor, Robert Mugabe, who, incidentally, also recently suffered the same fate as Zuma. However, it has shown that Zuma is thinking of South Africa.
President Jacob Zuma’s statement came after the ANC gave him an ultimatum to resign or be recalled in a letter delivered by the party’s secretary general Ace Magashule on Tuesday. After he failed to resign during the day, the ANC announced that it would back a motion tabled by the opposition to force him from office.
Agents from the Hawks, an elite police investigative unit, entered the compound of the Gupta family in an affluent Johannesburg neighbourhood.
Zuma, he added, had even in his resignation speech refused to take any responsibility for his actions, and for the harm he had caused the country. He had admired Zuma greatly, he said, and like many others he was puzzled as dismayed by what Zuma became during his later years. “And also the ANC should not be divided in my name”. “I have always been a disciplined member of the ANC”, he said. “I will try to work very hard not to disappoint the people of South Africa”. Mr Zuma, 75, rose from poverty and no formal schooling to become South Africa’s president in 2009, following in the footsteps of Mr Mandela and Thabo Mbeki.
‘He must be thanked for making peace with himself and the country by bowing to the inevitable and affording us much-needed relief’.
After that, Zuma’s only hope, if he wants to stay in South Africa after leaving office – which he clearly does – was an amnesty deal.
Ramaphosa is expected to make any changes to the cabinet after his address Friday.
South Africa’s currency, the rand, made some major gains on Wednesday night as Zuma resigned, reaching highs against the U.S. dollar that it had not seen since 2015.
On Monday, the ANC’s top decision-making body met again while Zuma continued to stall, seeking to cling to power for another three months.
Cyril Ramaphosa has been sworn in as South Africa’s president.
It was during those years that police would lock down nearly the entire city of Cape Town in anticipation of protests against former President Jacob Zuma.
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Ramaphosa was named President ad interim to substitute Jacob Zuma, hours after the head of state resigned last night.
