Rodger BOSCH / POOL / AFP
South African lawmakers on Thursday elected Cyril Ramaphosa as the country’s new president after scandal-tainted Jacob Zuma resigned under pressure from his own ANC ruling party.
Ramaphosa was elected without a vote after being the only candidate nominated in the parliament in Cape Town, chief justice Mogoeng Mogoeng told assembled lawmakers.
Read Also: Jacob Zuma Resigns As South Africa’s President
Zuma announced his immediate resignation on Wednesday after the ruling ANC party threatened to eject him from office via a parliamentary vote of no confidence.
In a 30-minute national television address, he said that he had “come to the decision to resign as president of the republic with immediate effect”.
“I have served the people of South Africa to the best of my ability. I am forever grateful that they trusted me with the highest office in the land,” he added.
Zuma has, however, been at loggerheads with Cyril Ramaphosa, his successor and the new head of the ANC.
Ramaphosa Vows To Fight Corruption
Ramaphosa who was sworn in on Thursday, shortly after his election, used his first speech in office to vow to fight government corruption, in a direct reference to accusations levelled against his predecessor Jacob Zuma.
“Issues to do with corruption, issues of how we can straighten out our state-owned enterprises and how we deal with ‘state capture’ are issues that are on our radar screen,” he told lawmakers in parliament.
“Those are issues we are going to be addressing and tomorrow we will also have an opportunity to outline some of the steps we are going to be taking,” said Ramaphosa, who got a standing ovation at the end of the speech.
Ramaphosa, a wealthy former businessman, will deliver his first State of the Nation address on Friday.
AFP
