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Zuma re-elected South African president

Jacob Zuma has been re-elected South African president, as the African National Congress won the elections with 62 per cent of the vote.

South African president Jacob Zuma
Jacob Zuma has been re-elected president of South Africa for a second term by the National Assembly. (AAP)

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Source: AAP


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Jacob Zuma has been re-elected president of South Africa for a second term by the National Assembly.

Zuma's African National Congress (ANC), which has ruled the country since the end of apartheid 20 years ago, won the May 7 elections with about 62 per cent of the vote.

The main opposition Democratic Alliance objected to Zuma's re-election, saying he was unfit for the post, because an ombudsman's report had shown he had unduly profited from security upgrades to his rural homestead.

Public Protector Thuli Madonsela's report said Zuma spent 20 million dollars in taxpayers' money on the upgrades which included a swimming pool and an amphitheatre.

Chief Justice Mogoeng Mogoeng, who swore in the new MPs, accepted the ANC argument that any member of the assembly could be elected president.

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ANC national chairwoman Baleka Mbete was elected speaker of parliament.

The big novelty was the presence of the new radical left-wing party Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF), which came third in the elections, taking six per cent of the vote.

EFF members wore red boiler suits or dressed like domestic workers to show they represented the poor, in contrast to most other MPs, who chose formal attire.


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