South African President Cyril Ramaphosa was among the 400 members of parliament from 14 of the country’s political parties to be sworn-in for the sixth post-independence parliament on Wednesday.
The swearing-in ceremony, presided over by Chief Justice Mogoeng Mogoeng, is in fact a sitting at which the parliament formally constitutes itself as a law-making body, according to the House.
Ramaphosa is later expected to be nominated as the president-elect by the ANC before the House takes a vote on his candidacy. With the ANC in the majority, his election to the presidency is a foregone conclusion.
South African voters do not elect a president at the ballot box directly, but rather they elect a party. It is the party that nominates a candidate to stand for the presidency in the House.
Ramaphosa, as the expected president-elect, will be inaugurated on 25 May as President of South Africa and Head of State.
NM/jn/APA