The African National Congress (ANC) signed a Government of National Unity (GNU) deal with a coalition dominated by the Democratic Alliance (DA).
And the government is all set for the Presidential inauguration, which will take place on Wednesday, 19 June 2024, at the Union Buildings in Pretoria.
This is after Cyril Ramaphosa was re-elected as the President of South Africa on Friday at the first sitting of the National Assembly of the seventh democratic administration.
Three hundred and thirty-nine ballot papers were issued and counted, with 12 invalid ballots. Ramaphosa received 283 votes against Economic Freedom Fighters leader Julius Malema, who received 44 votes from MPs.
This has been well recieved by markets, including the property sector which will benefit in the wake of election results earlier this month that caused a lot of anxiety among both consumers and investors.
Stephen Whitcombe, MD of Firzt Realty, predicts that interest rates might even start to go down earlier than expected.
"Lower interest rates would, of course, boost the property market by making home ownership more affordable and making it easier for prospective buyers to qualify for a home loan. However, to get there, we need increased investor and consumer confidence in the future of the country and its economy, and the renewed confidence created by the GNU agreement was clearly indicated by a 1,6% jump in the JSE Africa All Share Index last week and a 3% increase in the value of the rand.
"If this continues now as we expect, the rand will strengthen further, the inflation rate will fall and the risk of imported inflation will decrease, all of which may well encourage the Reserve Bank to start cutting rates within the next few months and making life easier for millions of SA consumers while hopefully lifting economic growth and stimulating job creation," he said.
He said that many home buyers and investors who have been hesitant to commit until post elections are already deciding to go ahead with their purchase plans, aided by the fact that the banks are still keen to lend.
"Despite the fact that it is early days for the GNU, there is also a widespread belief that the parties involved so far are genuinely committed to co-governance and have a good chance of achieving the objectives outlined in their agreement, which include reducing poverty and inequality, increasing economic growth and employment, creating a professional and merit-based public service, taking strong action against crime and corruption and improving education and healthcare.
"At municipal and provincial level, especially in Gauteng, it is also believed that the GNU partners will have the capacity now to tackle and actually solve issues such as homelessness, potholes and outages caused by old and crumbling water and electricity networks. This work has previously often been hampered by political infighting and the collapse of unsustainable coalitions, but the GNU definitely promises something different.
"Consequently, we are confident that this year will turn out to be a better one for property than the industry was expecting, and that home values will increase in real terms," Whitcombe said.
Yael Geffen, chief executive officer of Lew Geffen Sotheby’s International Realty, hails this decision as "the most selfless and mature" action taken by the ANC since Jacob Zuma's presidency began in 2009.
“The good news is that as a people, as a nation, we can now look to a future that contains a real prospect of prosperity for everyone, rather than just the few that we have seen since mid-2009.
“The pillaging of our state assets will take time to die, but the checks and balances that should have been in place years ago, will start being enforced, and the culture of corruption will wither in the years to come. That gives us as a country and an economy a chance to grow and prosper.”
Geffen said this news will undoubtedly buoy international investor confidence in the future of South Africa, and in turn boost the property market in the mid-term.
“The outlook is certainly more positive than it was a month ago.”
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