Jacob Zuma, leader of the ruling African National Congress (ANC) has been formally elected South African president by a vote in parliament on Wednesday in Cape Town.
In what was seen as a mere formality, Zuma was challenged in the vote by Mvume Dandala of the newly formed Congress of the People (Cope), whose leadership comprises people who broke away from the ANC last year.
At the end of the vote, Zuma received 277 votes against 47 for Mr Dandala.
The first agenda of the first session of the new parliament, sitting in Cape Town, was to swear in the 400 MPs, who then went ahead to elect a new speaker and deputy speaker.
According to South Africa’s constitution, Zuma will be formally inaugurated on Saturday in the political capital Pretoria, which is expected to be the high watermark of his ascendancy to the post of South African head of state.
Tens of thousands of people and some 5,000 dignitaries are expected on Saturday to attend what is considered to be the main event: Mr Zuma’s inauguration in Pretoria. His new cabinet will be announced by Sunday.
During the elections on 22 April, the ANC obtained 264 seats in parliament, slightly less than a two-thirds majority. It as a result, lost ground to the official opposition, the Democratic Alliance (DA) which obtained 67 seats, while the newly formed COPE got 30 seats.
Source African Press Agency
