South Africa announces new coalition government

CAPE TOWN — South Africa's President Cyril Ramaphosa named a new Cabinet on Sunday night after his African National Congress, the former main opposition party and nine other parties agreed on the makeup of a coalition government following weeks of haggling.

Ramaphosa's party retained the largest share of ministerial positions as he appointed ANC officials to 20 of 32 Cabinet minister roles in the new coalition. But there were six ministers from the Democratic Alliance, once the main opposition and fiercest critic of the ANC, and Ramaphosa shared out the remaining ministerial posts among some of the smaller parties.

The president's announcement of his new, multiparty Cabinet came a month after the ANC lost its 30-year political dominance of Africa's most industrialized country in a national election, forcing it to seek coalition partners. The ANC's share of the vote slumped to 40 percent in the May 29 elections and it lost its parliamentary majority for the first time since it came to power at the end of apartheid in 1994.

The DA won the second-largest share of the vote with 21 percent.

Others have also joined what the ANC called a government of national unity that is open to any of the 18 parties represented in Parliament. Some have refused to take part.

Power-sharing

The power-sharing coalition is unprecedented for South Africa. The country briefly had a coalition government at the end of apartheid.

This time, the ANC needed the help of lawmakers from the DA and other parties to reelect Ramaphosa for a second term.

The landmark national election saw South Africans shifting away from the ANC, driven by frustration over poverty and some of the highest rates of inequality and unemployment in the world. Ramaphosa said on Sunday those issues would be priorities for the coalition government.

"The incoming government will prioritize rapid, inclusive and sustainable economic growth and the creation of a more just society by tackling poverty and inequality as well as unemployment," he said.

While there are 11 parties in the coalition, the ANC and the DA are the two largest and the key players. Talks between them have been tense and drawn out and the DA was reportedly on the verge of walking away from a power-sharing deal until a meeting between Ramaphosa and DA leader John Steenhuisen on Friday.

"We have shown that there are no problems that are too difficult or too intractable that they cannot be solved through dialogue," Ramaphosa said, noting the negotiations had been complex.

Agencies Via Xinhua