Cyril Ramaphosa Confirmed As South Africa’s New President

Another party, the Economic Freedom Fighters walked out of parliament in protest, rejecting the plan to elect the new president.

“We don’t have a Jacob Zuma problem, we have an ANC problem”, Maimane said “…

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.

“The Zuma administration has caused enormous damage to the South African economy and it will literally take years to fix the damage”.

“I’m being victimised here”, Zuma said, complaining that Mr Ramaphosa and other party leaders had not given him clear reasons why he should step down.

Jackson Mutembu, the ANC’s parliamentary head, said his party is honored for having been supported by all political parties to elect Ramaphosa unopposed.

“A new dawn is upon us”, he said in a speech in parliament that drew applause but was criticized by the opposition as short on meaningful solutions.

With Zuma’s departure, who was more their father figure and protector, it is hoped that a new diplomatic page will be opened.

Born on Nov 17, 1952, in Soweto township, west of Johannesburg – a centre of the anti-apartheid struggle – Mr Ramaphosa became involved with student activism while studying law in the 1970s.

Jacob Zuma’s resignation as president of South Africa is long overdue, the country’s bishops said, noting that his scandal-plagued presidency fostered corruption and dereliction of duty at all levels of government. An elite police unit entered the compound of the Gupta family, which has been accused of using its connections to the president to influence Cabinet appointments and win state contracts.

But local media reported that the situation was deadlocked.

The Guptas are a business family from India who formed allegedly improper ties to Zuma.

Technically, Zuma still had a year left in his second term as president, but the ANC wanted him out now because he was blighting the party’s chances of winning next year’s election. He paid back some of the money.

Ramaphosa, 65, is a former trade unionist who led talks to end apartheid in the early 1990s and then became a multi-millionaire businessman before returning to politics.

ReutersJacob Zuma was defiant in a 30-minute speech announcing his resignation but saying he did not agree with the ANC’s decision.

“I’m being victimized here”, Zuma told state broadcaster SABC.

Ramaphosa has a big job ahead of him.

Despite anger over his numerous scandals, Mr Zuma remained popular in many rural strongholds.

“Why do you look serious?”

“A recall is not nice, you wouldn’t want that on someone else”, said Zikalala.