President Cyril Ramaphosa has commended the country’s law enforcement authorities for their action which led to the arrests of two suspects linked to the brutal murders of University of Cape Town student Uyinene Mrwetyana and SA boxing champion Leighandre Jegels.
 
Mrwetyana’s alleged killer was arrested and charged with rape, murder and defeating the ends of justice. The man suspected of killing Jegels was also arrested and has since died in hospital.
 
The murder of these two young women, one at the hands of a stranger and the other killed by a man who was reportedly her boyfriend, remain a stark  reminder that the women of South Africa are not safe, either in their homes or in the streets.
 
On Monday, 2 September 2019, the body of a 14 year old girl was found in a backyard in Cape Town, adding to a grim body count of murdered women and girls across the country.
 
“This is a very dark period for us as a country. The assaults, rapes and murders of South African women are a stain on our national conscience.” President Ramaphosa said.
 
The President added: “We have just commemorated Women’s Month. Sixty three years after the women of 1956 marched for the right to live in freedom, women in this country live in fear - not of the apartheid police but of their brothers, sons, fathers and uncles. We should all hang our heads in shame”
 
In 2019, The Presidency signed the Declaration on Gender-Based Violence and Femicide with various civil society formations and has directed that urgent attention be given to its implementation, particularly on immediate measures around support to victims and access to shelters and places of safety.
 
The President has sent his deepest condolences to the Mrwetyana and Jegels families and urges all South Africans to keep them in their thoughts during this very traumatic time. The President will be meeting with the leadership of the police later on today to be briefed on, amongst others, steps being undertaken to stem the tide of gender based violence in the country.
 
 
Media enquiries: Khusela Diko, Spokesperson to the President – 072 854 5707
 
Issued by: The Presidency
Pretoria

President Cyril Ramaphosa will lead the South African delegation to the World Economic Forum on Africa (WEF Africa) taking place from 4 to 6 September 2019 at the Cape Town International Convention Centre.

Held under the theme “Shaping Inclusive Growth and Shared Futures in the Fourth Industrial Revolution”, the Forum will be attended by Heads of State and Government from the continent and the world, as well as global leaders from business and civil society.

Delegates will engage and share best practices on various ways to grow their economies.

The President commences his programme this morning , 04 September 2019, on the margins of WEF Africa by addressing an interactive breakfast  session hosted by Brand South Africa under the theme ‘Enhancing the ease of doing business in South Africa’.  The session will take place at the 15 on Orange Hotel.

The seminar forms part of South Africa’s effort to secure domestic and international investment of $100 billion in five years. This engagement will allow potential investors to engage with South African government and business representatives on progress towards adopting and implementing policies that will enhance the ease of doing business in South Africa.

In the evening, President Ramaphosa will attend and address the WEF Africa Country Dinner South Africa to be held at the Westin Hotel.

On 05 September 2019, President Ramaphosa will participate in sessions known as Informal Gathering of World Leaders, where discussions will focus on “Charting Africa’s path in a Multiconceptual World” and “Shaping Inclusive Growth and Shared Futures in the Fourth Industrial Revolution”.

South Africa will also host the Forum’s Mokete Cultural Soiree themed "Africa, Ikhaya lam", which will be attended by Heads of State and Government as well as senior business leaders.

WEF Africa is a platform for South Africa to profile the ways in which the country has embraced the opportunities presented by the Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR) and has begun to prepare for challenges arising from the interplay between technology and people.

South Africa will also learn from countries that have excelled in using technology and the Fourth Industrial Revolution to advance their economies.

A wide range of issues will be discussed at the meeting, including the future of state-owned enterprises; infrastructure; promoting female leadership; investing in mental health and achieving universal health coverage; Africa's climate change challenges; fighting financial crime; trade; education, energy; building Africa’s digital economy and contributing to inclusive growth, and reskilling workers for the Fourth Industrial Revolution.

Team South Africa’s objectives at WEFA 2019 are to:

- Position South Africa as a destination of choice with a large presence of successful domestic and multinational investors who benefit from the country’s location, infrastructure and logistics, and
- Profile investment opportunities in diverse sectors of South Africa’s economy. 

The President and his delegation will further highlight that South Africa has prudent macro-economic policies; is restructuring its state owned enterprises to position them to grow the economy; is striving to improve its competitiveness through a commitment to create an enabling environment for trade and investment; remains committed to innovations and technologies that will advance the country and the continent into the 4th Industrial Revolution, and is also strongly committed to the African development agenda.

The President will be joined by the Deputy President David Mabuza, the Ministers of Finance; Health; Trade and Industry; Small Business Development; International Relations and Cooperation; Human Settlements; Higher Education and Training; Communications and Digital Technologies; Transport; Public Works and Infrastructure; Environment, Forestry and Fisheries and Public Enterprises.


Media enquiries: Khusela Diko, Spokesperson to the President on 072 854 5707
 
Issued by: The Presidency
Pretoria

President Cyril Ramaphosa has described the confrontation outside Brackenfell High School in Cape Town as deeply regrettable, and has called on all parties involved to act responsibly.

On Monday, 09 November 2020, a violent confrontation broke out between a group of parents from the school and members of the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF). 

The EFF members were protesting against alleged racism at the school.

“At this most important and difficult time for matriculants not only at Brackenfell High School but around the country, the spectacle of parents and protestors coming to blows at the school gate is deeply unfortunate,” President Ramaphosa said.

“It is the right of every South African to engage in peaceful protest, and any actions to suppress the right to freedom of expression, particularly through violence and intimidation, must be roundly condemned,” the President said.

“What happened today brings back hurtful memories of a past we should never seek to return to,” President Ramaphosa said.

The President added that allegations of racism levelled against the school needed to be urgently investigated.

“We should be ever mindful of the extent to which our actions, both publicly and in private, undermine the cherished principle of non-racialism upon which our democracy was founded,” President Ramaphosa said.

The President has called on all parties concerned to exercise restraint and to resolve their differences peacefully and through dialogue.

“We should not allow what has transpired at Brackenfell High School to be used by any groupings who want to cause racial polarisation,” the President said.


Media enquiries: Tyrone Seale, Acting Spokesperson to the President – media@presidency.gov.za 

Issued by: The Presidency
Pretoria

President Cyril Ramaphosa calls for restraint in Brackenfell 10 Nov

President Cyril Ramaphosa will address the nation on the matter of public and gender-based violence in a message that will be broadcast on radio and television at 18h00 today, Thursday 5 September 2019.

The broadcast follows a personal address by the President earlier today to thousands of protesters who had marched to Parliament to express their anger at gender-based violence.

The President welcomed the protesters’ demands for tougher measures against men who abuse women and assured demonstrators that the criminal  justice system will deal more harshly with perpetrators.


Media enquiries:Khusela Diko, Spokesperson to the President on 072 854 5707
 
Issued by:The Presidency
Pretoria

President Cyril Ramaphosa has on behalf of the government and people of South Africa expressed his sincere condolences to the people and government of the Republic of Zimbabwe following the passing of Founding President Robert Gabriel Mugabe.

President Mugabe, Zimbabwe’s first post-independence President, passed away in Singapore at the age of 95.

Paying tribute to President Mugabe, President Ramaphosa said: “South Africans join the people and government of Zimbabwe in mourning the passing of a liberation fighter and champion of Africa’s cause against colonialism.

“Under President Mugabe’s leadership, Zimbabwe’s sustained and valiant struggle against colonialism inspired our own struggle against apartheid and  built in us the hope that one day South Africa too would be free.

“During the decades of our own struggle, Zimbabwe’s liberation movement supported our own liberation movement to fight oppression on multiple fronts. After Zimbabwe achieved independence, the apartheid state brutalised and violated Zimbabwe as punishment for supporting our own Struggle.

“Many Zimbabweans paid with their lives so that we could be free. We will never forget or dishonor this sacrifice and solidarity.”

Early in his life, President Mugabe won a scholarship to Fort Hare University where he obtained the first of his seven academic degrees.

President Ramaphosa also acknowledged the role President Mugabe had played in advancing regional solidarity, integration and development through Zimbabwe’s participation in the Southern African Development Community.


Media enquiries: Khusela Diko, Spokesperson to the President – 072 854 5707

Issued by: The Presidency
Pretoria

President Cyril Ramaphosa has expressed his sadness at the passing away of former Springbok rugby wing Chester Williams who passed away today, Friday 6 September 2019, at the age of 49.

Chester Williams earned national and international acclaim with his contribution, alongside that of recently deceased wing James Small, to South  Africa’s triumph in the historic 1995 Rugby World Cup.

Most recently, Mr Williams established himself as a highly successful coach who led the University of the Western Cape to victory in the 2017 Varsity    Shield.

President Ramaphosa has offered his sincerest condolences to the family, friends, former teammates and teams with whom Williams shared his life.

“Chester Williams’s death at this tender age leaves all South Africans bereft of a rugby hero and national role model who still had a great deal to offer his sport and his country,” said President Ramaphosa.

“We will miss the humility and joy of life with which Chester conducted himself during an illustrious career that inspired hundreds of thousands of South African children who had previously been excluded from rugby, to take up the game.

“We salute him for the extraordinary achievements he recorded in a life that has sadly ended prematurely.”
 

Media enquiries: Khusela Diko, Spokesperson to the President – 072 854 5707

Issued by: The Presidency
Pretoria

President Cyril Ramaphosa has declared a Special Provincial Funeral in honour of the late former Robben Islander and Western Cape veteran Mr Vincent Diba, who has passed at the age of 59.

President Ramaphosa has declared a Special Provincial Funeral (Category 2), which entails ceremonial elements provided by the South African Police Service.

The funeral service will take place at Zolani Center in Nyanga East at 09h00 on Saturday, 7 September 2019.

Mr Vuyisile Vincent Diba was born on 15 September 1959 in the Mau-Mau location of Nyanga East; He was the fifth child of the late Jackie Mpunzima  Diba and Lienna Nongenile Diba.

Mr Diba is a past provincial vice-chairperson of the African National Congress (ANC) and was a member of the first Western Cape legislature of the democratic dispensation.

Mr Diba, who lived in NY 5 in Gugulethu with his family, was steeped in liberation politics and was imprisoned on Robben Island for eight years as part of an 11-year sentence.

He headed the ANC Western Cape policy committee, served on the organisation’s national peace and stability sub-committee, and undertook also did an officer’s training course in India and Denmark in preparation for the integration of the statutory and non-statutory forces in South Africa.
In his early life, Mr Diba studied at John Pama Primary School and and matriculated at Langa High School in 1979.

He completed a degree from Robben Island in 1986. In 2004 he graduated from the University of South Africa as a social worker.

Diba also had a passion for playing rugby and became active in the ex-political prisoners association and Makana ferries business before being employed at the Robben Island Museum where he served as a school and public programme officer until ailing health caused him to retire in December 2017.


Media enquiries: Khusela Diko, Spokesperson to the President on 072 854 5707

Issued by: The Presidency
Pretoria

His Excellency President Muhammadu Buhari will undertake a State Visit to South Africa in October 2019 to reinforce the strong bonds between the two countries and jointly develop responses to challenges affecting people and businesses in South Africa and Nigeria.

In the wake of public violence in South Africa and developments in Nigeria around South African businesses based in the West African country, President  Cyril Ramaphosa held discussions yesterday, Friday 6 September 2019, with Ambassador Ahmed Rufai Abubakar, Special envoy of The President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, President Muhammadu Buhari.

The visit to Pretoria by the Special Envoy followed a recent meeting between Presidents Ramaphosa and Buhari in Yokohama, Japan, on the sidelines  of the Summit of the Tokyo International Conference on African Development. 

In yesterday’s discussion, the Special Envoy conveyed President Buhari’s concern at recent events in South Africa, in the context of the strong and cordial relations that characterise the interaction between the two countries. 

President Buhari conveyed his commitment to the values of prosperity and the advancement of Africa that are shared by South Africa and Nigeria. 

Nigeria stands ready to assist South Africa in establishing the root causes of and developing sustainable solutions to the challenges concerned. 

President Buhari has undertaken that where challenges emerge in Nigeria, the Nigerian government will act against lawlessness and the targeting of South African assets in Nigeria. 

President Ramaphosa reaffirmed South Africa-Nigeria relations as being firm and strong and said  the two partners were resolute in their shared commitment to build an Africa at peace with itself and others.


Media enquiries: Khusela Diko, Spokesperson to the President – 072 854 5707

Issued by: The Presidency
Pretoria

President Cyril Ramaphosa has condemned in the strongest terms a resurgence of public violence that claimed two lives in Johannesburg yesterday, Sunday 08 September 2019.

The President has also expressed his condolences to the families of the two persons who were reportedly and respectively stabbed and shot – the latter incident involving a large group of armed attackers.

The President has called on law enforcement agencies to maintain vigilance and firmness in dealing with individuals or groups who take the law into their own hands and violate the dignity rights of people without raising grievances with the relevant authorities.

President Ramaphosa applauded law enforcement agencies for arresting at least 16 people during yesterday’s operations to bring calm and order to Johannesburg.

“Government will not allow sporadic lawlessness and violence to disrupt the safety and livelihoods of millions of South Africans and the majority of foreign nationals in our country who are law-abiding and have the right to conduct their lives and businesses in peace,” said the President.

“Lawlessness, injury and death inflict a great psychological and economic cost that lasts long after victims are buried, arrests are made and streets are cleared. This cost holds back our country and undermines all the efforts we are making to grow a South Africa that offers opportunity to all who live in it.

“Lawlessness is a crime against our prosperity and stability as a nation, and those who want to upset our public order must expect to face the gravest impact of the law.”


Media enquiries: Khusela Diko, Spokesperson to the President – 072 854 5707

Issued by: The Presidency
Pretoria

President Cyril Ramaphosa has paid tribute to anti-apartheid activist Adelaine Hain – mother of global human rights activist and senior British politician Lord Hain - who has passed away aged 92.

Born in Port Alfred, Adelaine Hain made her mark in defying apartheid and assisting oppressed communities – a commitment to which the apartheid State responded by banning her and later her husband, Walter, before forcing them into exile in the United Kingdom.

“Banning orders and arrests failed to extinguish Adelaine Hain’s patriotic struggle against an unjust system. She deserves our respect and gratitude for  mobilising her own family as much as she mobilised communities to dismantle apartheid,” said President Ramaphosa.

The President has offered his sincerest condolences to Lord Hain and his family. Walter Hain passed away in 2016.


Media enquiries: Khusela Diko, Spokesperson to the President – 072 854 5707

Issued by: The Presidency
Pretoria