Nelson Mandela

CAPE TOWN, SOUTH AFRICA - JUNE 14: Cyril Ramaphosa is congratulated after being elected President for a second term at the First Sitting Of The National Assembly at Cape Town International Convention Centre (CTICC) on June 14, 2024 in Cape Town, South Africa. The Chief Justice swore in the designated members and administered the oath or affirmation to the Republic of South Africa and obedience to the Constitution. (Photo by Jeffrey Abrahams/Gallo Images via Getty Images)

June 19, 2024 4:38 PM

South African President Ramaphosa starts new term with multi-party government

South Africa put on a display of pomp and ceremony on Wednesday for Cyril Ramaphosa's inauguration as president for a second term that will see his African National Congress share power with other parties after it lost its majority in parliament. African heads of state and dignitaries gathered outside the Union Buildings in Pretoria, seat of the South African government, to watch Ramaphosa's motorcade arrive with a guard of honour on horseback. Ramaphosa will head what he calls a government of...

JOHANNESBURG, SOUTH AFRICA - SEPTEMBER 24: A South African woman is in her costumes during the 'Heritage Day' celebrations at the Boipatong Stadium, in Johannesburg, largest city of South Africa, on September 24, 2014. Heritage Day is a South African public holiday celebrated on 24 September. On this day, South Africans across the spectrum are encouraged to celebrate their culture and the diversity of their beliefs and traditions, in the wider context of a nation that belongs to all its people. (Photo by Cornell Tukiri/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images)

June 11, 2024 11:54 AM

South Africa’s unity government must harmonise wildly different visions

Talks to forge South Africa's post-election unity government will need to bring together parties with goals as contradictory as seizing white-owned farms and mines, ditching Black empowerment policies and tearing up the constitution. How well the African National Congress (ANC) harmonises these divergent and mutually hostile visions will determine the government's stability, its ability to make decisions and its policy priorities over the next five years. It will also test Nelson Mandela's 199...

May 31, 2024 12:57 PM

South Africa heads for coalition as ANC set for big fall

South African political parties geared up for coalition talks on Friday as the governing African National Congress (ANC) looked set to fall well short of a majority in this week's election, the first time this has happened in 30 years of democracy. While the party of the late Nelson Mandela looked likely to remain the largest political force, voters appear to have punished the former liberation movement for years of decline. The ANC had won every previous national election since the historic 1...