Issued by Ismail Joosub on behalf of the FW de Klerk Foundation on 14/06/2024

The FW de Klerk Foundation welcomes Parliament’s election of Cyril Ramaphosa as the President of South Africa today. 

“Parliament elected a President and did not allow South Africa, or its people be held hostage by any amount of political weight-throwing,” said Christo van der Rheede, Executive Director of the Foundation. 

The Foundation also welcomes the formation of a Government of National Unity between the ANC, DA and IFP. “It is greatly encouraging that the parties in the GNU respect the Constitution and its founding values. The Foundation continuously called for the new government to consist of political parties loyal to the Constitution, because the Constitution allows for political parties to get behind a shared vision of a vibrant, prosperous, unified South Africa,” van der Rheede states.

“The Foundation positively acknowledges the formalised GNU agreement that sets out policy stances and power-sharing dynamics. Without this, the risk of governance paralysis and corruption remains high. It is, thus, heartening that an agreement has been made in writing, including measures to hold all participants accountable and has been made public” states Ismail Joosub, Legal Officer of Constitutional Programmes at the Foundation.