Barely a few hours after Jacob Zuma was pressured to step down as South Africa's president via a late night televised address, Cyril Ramaphosa was qui
Barely a few hours after Jacob Zuma was pressured to step down as South Africa’s president via a late night televised address, Cyril Ramaphosa was quickly sworn in as the 5th democratically elected president of South Africa, thus ending Zuma’s nine-year rule following allegations of corruption.
The ANC had told Mr Zuma to step down or face a vote of no-confidence. Mr Zuma faces numerous corruption allegations but denies any wrongdoing. One allegation is that he allowed the wealthy Gupta family, to whom he has personal ties, to wield undue influence. An arrest warrant has been issued for Ajay Gupta, one of the three most prominent Gupta brothers, officials said on Thursday.
Cyril Ramaphos, a wealthy former businessman was the only candidate nominated by parliament, which is dominated by his African National Congress. In his first presidential speech, 65 year old Cyril Ramaphosa said he would tackle the corruption which has became widespread under Zuma. President Ramaphosa told parliament that corruption and state capture were “on our radar screen”. It is often said that Mr Ramaphosa has had his eye on the position of president since the ANC came to power in 1994. The story goes that he was so upset at not having been chosen by Nelson Mandela as his successor that he left politics and went into business. But Cyril Ramaphosa has now finally realised that dream. He has said his priority is reviving South Africa’s battered economy.
One opposition party, the Economic Freedom Fighters, however, walked out of the parliamentary debate. It wants new elections, rather than the ANC deciding on the identity of the new president.
