Irish Examiner view: South Africa's new coalition is an example of pragmatic politics

For now, South Africa's focus will be on building stability and creating growth. But the test of all coalitions comes not in the commonalities but in the differences

South Africa's president Cyril Ramaphosa was reelected on Friday. Picture: Jerome Delay/AP

That Old Testament reference to the “wolf dwelling with the lamb” may not be a full parallel with what has just happened in South Africa, but there are shades of it in the deal struck by the ruling African National Council (ANC) party to keep itself in power.

The coalition pact between the Democratic Alliance (DA) — predominantly white, pro-business, and less enthusiastic about the influence of Moscow and Beijing — and its one-time antagonist, the ANC, is another example of the contemporary importance of pragmatism in politics.