CAPE TOWN, South Africa (AP) – South Africa’s new President Cyril Ramaphosa was preparing to give his first state of the nation address Friday to a country with high expectations as he vows to curb corruption that flourished under his predecessor.
Ramaphosa, elected by jubilant ruling party lawmakers on Thursday, returns to parliament in the evening to deliver the speech amid speculation that he might reshuffle his Cabinet to remove ministers associated with alleged graft at state-owned enterprises under Jacob Zuma.
The South African currency, the rand, has strengthened against the dollar since Ramaphosa’s ascent, but the new president faces the long-term problem of sluggish economic growth and unemployment of over 25 percent.
Cyril Ramaphosa is sworn in as South African President in Cape Town, South Africa, Thursday Feb. 15, 2018. Ramaphosa on Thursday was elected unopposed as South Africa’s new president by ruling party legislators after the Wednesday resignation of Jacob Zuma.(AP Photo/Mike Hutchings / Pool)
Zuma resigned Wednesday, opening the way for Ramaphosa to become South Africa’s fifth president since the end of white minority rule in 1994.
“I think it is going to be a new political era for South Africa, so every citizen will be interested in watching it so that they’ll know what the future is going to be,” said Xoliswa Makamola, a resident in Cape Town, where the speech would take place.
Investors will be watching as well, Makamola said.
“He must just make sure that he comes out positive, win the people over,” another resident, Oracious Abrahams, said of the new president.
A lead negotiator in the transition from apartheid to democracy and one of South Africa’s most prominent businessmen, Ramaphosa now leads a government anxious to shed months of political limbo and public frustration that weakened the reputation of the ruling African National Congress party.
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Torchia reported from Johannesburg.
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Cyril Ramaphosa, left, reacts as he is cheered by Parliament members after being elected President in Parliament in Cape Town, South Africa Feb. 15, 2018. Ramaphosa on Thursday was elected unopposed as South Africa’s new president by ruling party legislators after the resignation of Jacob Zuma. (Mike Hutchings, Pool via AP)
Supporters for president elect Cyril Ramaphosa, portrait on t-shirt, sing and dance outside in Cape Town, South Africa, Thursday, Feb. 15, 2018. Cyril Ramaphosa on Thursday was elected as South Africa’s new president by ruling party legislators after the resignation of Jacob Zuma, whose scandals brought the storied African National Congress to its weakest point since taking power at the end of apartheid. (AP Photo/Nasief Manie)
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