JOHANNESBURG — Cyril Ramaphosa on Thursday was elected as South Africa's new president by ruling party legislators after the resignation of Jacob Zuma, whose scandals brought the storied African National Congress to its weakest point since taking power at the end of apartheid. "The EFF therefore will not participate in the election of a new president, to replace Zuma because we do not want to legitimate anyone from the ruling party." Ramaphosa, 65, was elected unopposed as Zuma’s permanent successor by parliament, and sworn into the post by South African Chief Justice Mogoeng Mogoeng, who had earlier read out the former president’s resignation letter. The country's main opposition party, the Democratic Alliance, will cooperate with Ramaphosa if he acts in the interests of the South African people, said party leader Mmusi Maimane. Members of a smaller opposition party walked out of parliament before the election, saying the ruling ANC party plan to choose a new president was “illegitimate.”

Julius Malema, leader of the Economic Freedom Fighters party, said ANC lawmakers had failed to hold former Zuma to account for alleged corruption and had therefore violated the constitution. On Friday evening, he is expected to deliver the state of the nation address that had been postponed during the ruling party’s days of closed-door negotiations to persuade Zuma to resign. The South African currency, the rand, strengthened against the dollar in early trading Thursday after Zuma’s resignation, which ended political turmoil that had stalled some government business. On Thursday the foundation of Nelson Mandela, South Africa’s first black president, welcomed Zuma’s departure but said the state must act against “networks of criminality” that have hurt the country’s democracy.
Cyril Ramaphosa is elected by the National Assembly as President of South Africa.