| South Africa’s Deputy President David Mabuza is sworn in in Cape Town, South Africa, February 27, 2018. REUTERS/Sumaya Hisham |
South Africa began swearing in its newly elected parliament on Wednesday, excluding President Cyril Ramaphosa’s influential deputy David Mabuza, who put off taking up his seat to address accusations he had brought the ruling party into disrepute.
Ramaphosa, who is also the leader of the ANC, is due to be elected to remain president on Wednesday by the 400 lawmakers in parliament’s National Assembly lower house, where his party holds the majority. He will be inaugurated on Saturday.
South Africa’s chief justice started swearing in lawmakers in batches of 10 ahead of the election of parliament’s presiding officers and nominations for president.
The ANC easily won South Africa’s May 8 general election, but its vote share fell to a post-apartheid low, reflecting anger at corruption and racial inequality still entrenched a generation since the former liberation movement took power.
Mabuza’s exclusion is a reminder of the scandals that have damaged the ANC’s popularity and brought down Ramaphosa’s predecessor Jacob Zuma, who was removed from power by the party last year and now faces prosecution for graft.
Mabuza, the former premier of Mpumalanga, a coal-producing northeastern province, has struggled to shrug off longstanding allegations of corruption there. A report by the ANC’s Integrity Commission suggested he had brought the party into disrepute.
“The deputy president has indicated he would like to have an opportunity to address… these allegations,” said Ramaphosa in an ANC statement. “The deputy president believes that the ANC as a governing party should advance the electoral mandate in an environment of public trust.”
Mabuza played a key role in ensuring Ramaphosa was elected in a tight contest to take over from Zuma as party leader, which led to Ramaphosa replacing Zuma as president in Feb. 2018.
Another senior ANC politician, Nomvula Mokonyane, a former environmental affairs minister, also postponed her swearing in, with ANC officials citing a family bereavement.
Mokonyane had been nominated for a senior parliamentary position that entails holding the executive to account, but the ANC said it would now find someone else for the post.
Since replacing Zuma, Ramaphosa has pledged to fight corruption, reform struggling state-owned companies and revive a sclerotic economy. But he has struggled to enact reforms in the face of opposition from party rivals.
REUTERS