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A presidential election was held in the National Assembly in South Africa on 15 February 2018 following the resignation of Jacob Zuma on 14 February. [1] Acting president Cyril Ramaphosa of the ruling African National Congress won the election unopposed due to no other party nominating a candidate. Ramaphosa was sworn in by Chief Justice Mogoeng Mogoeng at 5pm, 15 February 2018. [2]
Following the announcement of the resignation of President Jacob Zuma late on 14 February 2018, [3] and official receipt of a letter of resignation by the Speaker of Parliament during the morning of 15 February, [4] Parliament was convened to elect a new president. [5]
The President of South Africa is elected by the members of the National Assembly, the lower house of Parliament. The upper house, the National Council of Provinces, does not participate in the election. [6]
In a press conference before the session, Julius Malema, leader of the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) announced that his party will not participate in the election. [7]
Shortly after the start of the sitting of Parliament the EFF objected to the legitimacy of the process, stating that parliament should be dissolved and a general election called. All members of the EFF then walked out. [8]
The Chief Justice of the Constitutional Court, Mogoeng Mogoeng presided over the election. He began proceedings by reading Zuma's letter of resignation. Parties traditionally nominate their respective leaders as candidates. Cyril Ramaphosa, leader of the African National Congress and Acting President since Zuma's resignation, [4] was the only nominee. Thus there was no ballot and Ramaphosa was declared duly elected. [8]
In a brief ceremony at Tuynhuys, the office of the Presidency in Cape Town, President Elect Ramaphosa was sworn in as the fifth post-apartheid President of South Africa, shortly after 17:00 SAST (15:00 UTC) on 15 February by the Chief Justice of the Constitutional Court. [11]
Matamela Cyril Ramaphosa is a South African businessman and politician serving as the fifth and current president of South Africa since 2018. A former anti-apartheid activist, trade union leader, and businessman, Ramaphosa is also the president of the African National Congress (ANC).
South Africa since 1994 transitioned from the system of apartheid to one of majority rule. The election of 1994 resulted in a change in government with the African National Congress (ANC) coming to power. The ANC retained power after subsequent elections in 1999, 2004, 2009, 2014, and 2019. Children born during this period are known as the born-free generation, and those aged eighteen or older, were able to vote for the first time in 2014.
Julius Sello Malema is a South African politician who is a Member of Parliament and the leader of the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF), a populist far-left party with a distinct military styling which he founded in 2013. He was formerly the President of the African National Congress (ANC) Youth League from 2008 until his expulsion from the party in 2012.
Cassel Mathale is a South African politician who was the third Premier of Limpopo between March 2009 and July 2013. He is currently the Deputy Minister of Police in the South African government and before that was Deputy Minister of Small Business Development from February 2018 to May 2019.
The Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) is a South African Marxist–Leninist and pan-Africanist political party. It was founded by expelled former African National Congress Youth League (ANCYL) President Julius Malema, and his allies, in 2013. Malema is President of the EFF, heading the Central Command Team which serves as the central structure of the party. It is currently the third-largest party in both houses of the South African Parliament. The party is also the official opposition in three of South Africa's nine provincial legislatures.
Economic Freedom Fighters v Speaker of the National Assembly and Others; Democratic Alliance v Speaker of the National Assembly and Others [2016] ZACC 11 is a major judgment of the Constitutional Court of South Africa which finds that President Jacob Zuma breached the South African Constitution by failing to implement the recommendations in the Public Protector's Nkandla report.
Mbuyiseni Quintin Ndlozi MP is a South African politician and political activist. He has been a Member of the National Assembly, representing the Economic Freedom Fighters, since 2014. He also served as the first official spokesperson for the party until his resignation in 2020. He was replaced as party spokesperson by fellow member of the Economic Freedom Fighters, youth activist Vuyani Pambo.
Jacob Zuma's tenure as South Africa's fourth post-apartheid president began on 9 May 2009 and ended on 14 February 2018. He held office under a mandate from the parliamentary caucus of the African National Congress (ANC), which had governed South Africa since 1994 and which won comfortable majorities in the 2009 and 2014 national elections. His presidency was beset by controversy, and he faced, and defeated, an impeachment attempt and a record eight motions of no confidence in the South African Parliament, four of which went to a vote. His party asked him to resign in February 2018, ahead of the constitutional end of his second term.
General elections were held in South Africa on 8 May 2019 to elect a new President, National Assembly and provincial legislatures in each province. These were the sixth elections held since the end of apartheid in 1994 and determined who would become the next President of South Africa.
The following lists events that happened during 2018 in South Africa.
Daluxolo Christopher Mpofu is a South African lawyer, politician, and former businessman who was the National Chairperson of the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) from 2014 to 2019. He served on the Judicial Service Commission from 2017 to 2022 and formerly served as chief executive officer of the South African Broadcasting Corporation from 2005 to 2009.
The Second Cabinet of Cyril Ramaphosa was formed on 29 May 2019 after President Ramaphosa was inaugurated for his first full-term as President of South Africa following the African National Congress's victory in the 2019 South African general election. The newly appointed ministers were inaugurated the next day by Chief Justice Mogoeng Mogoeng at the Sefako Makgatho Presidential Guest House in Pretoria. The cabinet is the third cabinet in Africa to be made completely gender-equal in its composition and the first gender-equal cabinet in South African history.
Ronald Ozzy Lamola is a South African lawyer and politician, Minister of Justice and Correctional Services, and a member of the African National Congress (ANC). He has also been serving as a Member of the National Assembly of South Africa since 22 May 2019. He is a member of the ANC's National Executive Committee and National Working Committee. Lamola had previously been involved in the African National Congress Youth League.
Naledi Nokukhanya Chirwa is a South African feminist, legislator and former student activist serving as a Member of the National Assembly of South Africa. A member of the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF), she was sworn in as an MP on 22 May 2019. She is one of the youngest MPs of the 6th Parliament. Chirwa was involved in the #FeesMustFall student protests that occurred at the University of Pretoria between 2015 and 2016.
The 2019 Northern Cape provincial election was held on 8 May 2019 to allocate the 30 seats of the Northern Cape Provincial Legislature. Like all the South African provincial elections, it was held on the same day as the South African general election. 21 political parties participated in the election, of which only the African National Congress, Democratic Alliance, Economic Freedom Fighters, and Freedom Front Plus won seats. The ANC lost two seats, but maintained a majority.
The 2020 Phala Phala Robbery or Cyril Ramaphosa Farm Burglary or Farmgate Scandal was a burglary of South African President Cyril Ramaphosa’s private Phala Phala game farm near Bela-Bela, Limpopo, South Africa. The incident occurred on 9 February 2020 in which an indeterminate amount of cash was stolen. Arthur Fraser, an ally of former President Jacob Zuma alleged that around 4 million US dollars of undeclared foreign currency had been stolen. However, subsequent reports indicated that the amount stolen was $580 000 Ramaphosa denied any wrongdoing, and sought judicial review of a report by a panel appointed by the South African Parliament released in 2022 that accused him of "serious misconduct". Opposition parties and MPs have slammed investigations into the source of the cash, and have accused the South African Reserve Bank of a providing claptrap report and systemic coverup. The Democratic Alliance intends to pursue the courts to further investigate the matter.
Kenny Thabo Motsamai is a South African anti-apartheid activist, convicted murderer and politician. A member of the Economic Freedom Fighters party, he has been a permanent delegate to the National Council of Provinces from Gauteng since May 2019. Motsamai is a former military commander of the Azanian People's Liberation Army, the military wing of the Pan Africanist Congress of Azania during apartheid. He was imprisoned for nearly three decades for killing a white traffic officer during a bank robbery in 1989.
Joanmariae Louise Fubbs is a South African retired politician, educator and poet. A member of the governing African National Congress, she was a Member of the Gauteng Provincial Legislature from 1994 until 2004 when she was elected to the National Assembly of South Africa. Following her re-election in 2009, she was elected chairperson of the Portfolio Committee on Trade and Industry, a position she would hold until she left Parliament at the 2019 general election.
Tebogo Josephine Mokwele is a South African politician who served in the National Assembly of South Africa from May to August 2019 as a member of the Economic Freedom Fighters party. Prior to serving in the National Assembly, Mokwele had been a permanent delegate to the National Council of Provinces from the North West from 2014 to 2019.
