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The Polisario boycotted the inauguration of South African President Cyril Ramaphosa, which took place on Wednesday, June 19. Its official media ignored the event, and Brahim Ghali did not send a congratulatory message to Ramaphosa.
This reserve was evident as early as Friday, June 14, when the deputies re-elected Ramaphosa, head of the African National Congress (ANC), for a second term as President of South Africa. While many allies sent congratulatory messages, including the presidents of Russia, China, Zimbabwe, Angola, Kenya, India, and others, the Polisario remained silent.
A notable sign of the strained relationship was that Brahim Ghali was not among the twenty heads of state and government invited to the swearing-in ceremony. In contrast, Cyril Ramaphosa had previously received the Polisario leader at least three times: in June 2018, October 2022, and August 2023 during the BRICS summit in Johannesburg.
Algeria also showed restraint following Ramaphosa's re-election and inauguration. This was evident in the subdued media coverage of both events. The continuous news channel AL24 News and Radio Algerie merely republished an international agency dispatch about the «national unity government» that Ramaphosa's ANC is forming with its new allies.
The ANC has been negotiating the composition of the government with the Democratic Alliance (DA), the second-largest party in the House of Representatives, described as pro-Western, the Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP), the GOOD Movement, and the Patriotic Alliance (PA).
