The crowd on the Union Buildings lawn in Pretoria gave South African President Jacob Zumaa thunderous welcome when the "man of the people" addressed them after his inauguration on Saturday.
"All that was supposed to be done, has been done," Zuma said to the cheering crowd that braved cold and rainy weather to see him take the oath to the highest office in the land.
He thanked them for voting for the African National Congress (ANC) in the national election, saying their participation showed they respected democracy.
"You campaigned and voted, I will visit you province by province to thank and celebrate with you," Zuma told the crowd, speaking in Zulu.
Mpho Mollope, from Thabazimbi in Limpopo, said Zuma's troubled journey from Nkandla to the Union Buildings had finally ended.
"Finally he is my president," she said, waving a white T-shirt with the same words at the back.
"His story is like a comedy, it has a painful beginning and a happy ending," said Mollope.
"The gods wanted Zuma to lead this country, in the morning there was rain and now it is sunny, this indicates that ancestors blessed him, according to my culture," said Serame Ntsepe of Mangaung near Bloemfontein in the Free State province.
Speaking from under an ANC umbrella, Ntsepe said Zuma, as a "man of the people," had drawn the biggest crowd ever to an inauguration.
"Madiba [Nelson Mandela] did not have such a crowd at his inauguration, people are here to see Msholozi crossing the finishing line, after all the troubles," he said.
The crowd cheered him when he introduced his first wife, Sizakele Khumalo, to them.
"This is MaKhumalo, my eldest wife. The other two who came after her, MaNtuli and MaMabhija, used the other exit."
MaKhumalo waved to the crowd before she left the stage.
Source: Xinhua
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