‘A President I Can Be Proud of’: South Africans Express Their Hopes

A new era began for South Africa last week when Cyril Ramaphosa was sworn in as the country’s president, a day after Jacob Zuma resigned in the face of corruption allegations.

Ramaphosa, a protégé of Nelson Mandela, has inherited the leadership of a country that has been battered by scandals and widespread graft.

During the critical transition period, we asked South Africans to outline the most pressing issues that their country faces and to describe their hopes and expectations under the new president.

— ‘We Are Not Looking for a Messiah’

“We hope for the restoration of the spirit of the ANC in 1994. However, as the ANC abetted Zuma, and the exact same people still hold power, except Zuma himself, we are understandably suspicious.”

— “We need a leader who respects that the office he holds is not for himself, his family or cronies. We need a leader who is able to say ‘I messed up.’ We are not looking for a messiah. We are looking for a leader who is grounded in the reality of South Africa.”

— “Knowing Ramaphosa stood silently by during the years Zuma ransacked the country, it’s difficult to feel like this won’t be swapping one destructive status quo for another.”

— “We trust that his populist promises will remain just that: promises. But to me, he is the hero that may continue the legacy of Mandela. For the first time since Mandela, I have hope for our country, and a president I can be proud of.”

— “I hope he will restore confidence in black leadership.”

— ‘Truly Horrendous Corruption and Incompetence’

“My province is in crisis mode because we’re dangerously close to completely running out of water. The taps are expected to run dry by June 2018. We desperately need to explore ways in which we can beat this drought and supply water to Cape Town and surrounds. South Africa as a whole has a water scarcity problem, which will have to be prioritized sooner rather than later.”

— “Gangsterism. There have been too many shootings and nothing has been done. The police never arrives or reacts. It is unbearable to live there. You are virtually a prisoner in your own home.”

— “Unemployment is a bitter issue for South Africans and I believe that if affirmative action didn’t exist, we would all have been employed on merit not based on race. Then I would have gotten bursaries to study too. But being the top student in school didn’t help my being white.”

— “As a white man, I feel like the most pressing issues facing ‘my community’ is a blindness and naïveté as to what the real plight of nonwhite South Africans are. We are tone deaf to the underlying drivers of things like campus protests and expropriation without compensation. We believe that white privilege is a myth because ‘we work very hard for our livelihood.'”

— ‘For Too Long, Debate Was Stifled’

“The next two years are going to be crucial for Cyril to implement strategies to stimulate the economy and reduce unemployment. I’m hopeful that he will focus on education and local manufacturing.

“The high unemployment rate drives the high crime rate. Crime continues to be a big problem in all communities in South Africa. Thankfully he is the ‘darling’ of the investment world. He is an astute businessman and exceedingly intelligent, so I have every confidence that he is the leader we need to turn the tide.”

— “I wish he can emphasize the significance of education to young Africans by ensuring that public and private institutions provide employment opportunities to graduates.”

— “As a 25-year-old, black South African, I don’t think much will change in the country beyond business confidence. Our country is plagued not just by corruption, but by an inept and partisan public service that is too bloated.

“South Africa is being crippled by high income inequality that sows discontent and is dehumanizing. Ramaphosa will not change that as a billionaire who flashes his wealth. When he was in business, he did nothing to bridge the gap between the executives and the broader labor force within his companies.”

— “The race card must be banned. For too long, debate was stifled because whoever differed from the ANC or Zuma was branded a racist or agent of Western nations. There was no rational discourse.”

— “Nothing will really change. The rich will get richer while the poor get poorer. Tribalism and racism are the cancer of South Africa.”