Birthday wishes stream in as Ramaphosa turns 67
The country's first citizen Cyril Ramaphosa turned 67 on Sunday and South Africans flooded social media with birthday wishes.
Ramaphosa was born in 1952 in the then Transvaal.
Ramaphosa is the second of the three children of Erdmuth and Samuel Ramaphosa.
A number of high profile people also joined in the birthday festivities.
Mr President, since my plea to skip November for December right away was not accepted because November has your birthday.
— Minister of Transport |Mr Fix (@MbalulaFikile) November 17, 2019
Can we kindly have an extension for December so it ends on December 61 ?
HAPPY BIRTHDAY MR PRESIDENT pic.twitter.com/jLe7YWORPo
Happy Birthday Mr President @CyrilRamaphosa pic.twitter.com/qXf4K22jpi
— Yusuf Abramjee (@Abramjee) November 17, 2019
Happy birthday, Mr President. May the year ahead bring more wisdom, blessings and prosperity to you. @CyrilRamaphosa @UbuntuRadioZA pic.twitter.com/A1YqKyDalO
— DIRCO South Africa (@DIRCO_ZA) November 17, 2019
The African National Congress (ANC) hailed Ramaphosa as a "dedicated and unifying leader".
"On his birthday we salute his for embodying some of the best values and traditions of the congress movement," says ANC spokesperson Pule Mabe.
Mabe adds that under Ramaphosa's leadership, the country has seen immense growth and progress.
But most analysts believe the statesman's time at the helm of the country has been a mixed bag of successes and failures.
These are some of this year's high's and low's for the president:
Ramaphosa became the country's third president to hold up the Weber Ellis Trophy in Japan after the Springboks walked away with the Rugby World Cup victory.
[WATCH] 'We are the nation Nelson Mandela wanted us to be' - Ramaphosa at RWC final
President Cyril Ramaphosa says South Africa has become the nation Nelson Mandela wanted it to be. In a video shared minutes before the start of the 2019 Rugby World Cup final in Japan, where South Africa faces off against England, Ramaphosa says of the Springboks: "They have put South Africa on the map."
He also secured R363 billion in investments at the country’s second investment conference earlier this month.
R363 billion pledged at investment conference
This is 17% higher than the monies pledged by investors at the country's first conference in 2018. The country's second investment conference will run until Thursday at the Sandton Convention Centre in Johannesburg. Ramaphosa says a further R8 billion has been pledged, but hasn't been included in the total because its subjected to regulatory or company board approvals.
He established a weekly newsletter, called 'From the desk of the President' with the promise to discuss some of the issues that interest and concern South Africans, as well as the work done by the government to tackle problems.
Ramaphosa publishes the first of his weekly newsletters
Welcome to the first weekly message 'From the Desk of the President'. Each week, I will discuss some of the issues that interest and concern South Africans, and talk about the work we are doing in government to tackle these issues. I hope you will find it useful.
President Ramaphosa was left red-faced when the South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC) aired an unedited clip of his speech.
In the emergency address in the National Assembly, Ramaphosa detailed the government’s plans to tackle the scourge of femicide and rape as well as the unrest and looting of foreign-owned shops.
Airing of wrong Ramaphosa clip an act of sabotage - SABC
SABC spokesperson Vuyo Mthembu says everyone involved was warned that the clip should be disregarded. "On that day, the SABC News office in Parliament had earlier sent the feed capturing both the rehearsal and final speech of the President to the Line Records desk.