Pomp and ceremony were the order of the day in Pretoria today as South Africa inaugurated its president.
President Cyril Ramaphosa has officially been inaugurated. This will be his second term as president of the republic.
The ceremony, led by the programme directors, current international relations and cooperation minister, Dr Naledi Pandor and deputy secretary general of the African National Congress (ANC), Ms Nomvula Mokonyane, began early on Wednesday morning. Among those in attendance were former first lady Graca Machel and Elita De Klerk, the widow of the last apartheid president and joint deputy president of the new South Africa, F.W. De Klerk.
Among the dignitaries were former presidents Thabo Mbeki and Kgalema Motlhante, former deputy presidents Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka and Baleka Mbete, the kings of Lesotho and Eswatini, Letsie the Third and Mswati the Third.
Notable in their absence were Economic Freedom Fighter members of parliament, who instead chose to support their Commander in Chief, Julius Malema, at his firearm discharge case at the East London Magistrate’s Court in the Eastern Cape. Malema and his co-accused, bodyguard Adriaan Snyman, face charges of discharging a firearm, a rifle, at the EFF’s fifth birthday celebrations in the Eastern Cape in 2018. Snyman is accused of handing Malema the rifle.
Unsurprisingly, former president Jacob Zuma’s uMkhonto We Sizwe party boycotted the inauguration, calling Ramaphosa’s presidency a “sellout deal signed by Fikile Mbalula and Helen Zille last week, as well as a rigged and illegal election marked by massive vote rigging and other manipulations by the IEC, through Janet Love, and other state institutions.” yikes!
The ceremony ran late. The president was sworn in at 12:25 pm instead of 11:25 a.m. as planned, and Chief Justice Raymond Zondo arrived only at 11:30. But hey, these things happen. The president and first lady, Dr Tshepo Motsepe, arrived before noon. His arrival was followed by interfaith prayer and reflection.
In his inaugural address, Ramaphosa appealed for South Africans to respect the election outcome and unite. He swore to become a “president for all South Africans and not some South Africans. The president said those seeking to “inflame tensions will not succeed because South Africans are resolute.”
Ramaphosa’s second term will not be without difficulties, though, as his Government of National Unity isn’t popular with everyone. And seeing as the ANC has received fewer votes than ever under his leadership, Cupcake might not even finish his term as president. The 2027 ANC Elective Conference might see him ousted by those in his party who oppose the GNU.
The real work begins as we wait for President Cupcake to announce his cabinet. The Constitution of South Africa doesn’t give the president a timeline for appointing his new cabinet, but we hope it’s soon. Curiosity is killing us! Will John Steenhuisen become the vice president? Will Gayton McKenzie be our new Home Affairs minister? Stay tuned to the movie that is South Africa!
