South African president says Parliament will open July 18 amid discord in the new coalition

Associated Press

CAPE TOWN, South Africa (AP) — South African President Cyril Ramaphosa has announced that Parliament will open on July 18 as he remains locked in negotiations with other parties to form a Cabinet well before then amid rifts in the new governing coalition. The talks to seal the final details of a multi-party government and appoint a Cabinet have been going on for two weeks. They’ve been marked by disagreements between Ramaphosa’s African National Congress and the Democratic Alliance, the second biggest party, over how to divide up ministerial portfolios. It has eroded some of the optimism that the coalition might enable South Africa to make progress in solving some of its vast problems with inequality and unemployment.