South Africa: Taking Stock of Ramaphosa’s First Year in Office

A Conversation with Cyril Prinsloo

Recorded in January 2019

Global Futures is a podcast about global politics and how rising powers like China and India are transforming it. We discuss foreign policy, economics, war and peace, and how the world is changing with experts from across the world.

Cyril Ramaphosa took over as South Africa’s president when Jacob Zuma resigned in February 2018 following years of corruption scandals and what many consider gross economic mismanagement.

Ramaphosa’s victory sparked optimism in a country tied down by recession, rising fuel prices and high levels of unemployment. But his party, the African National Congress (ANC), is still struggling to hold on to power ahead of the upcoming national elections in mid-2019.

Cyril Prinsloo, a Global Governance Futures 2030 fellow and researcher in the Economic Diplomacy Programme at the South African Institute of International Affairs, joins GPPi’s Joel Sandhu to talk about the achievements and shortcomings of President Ramaphosa during this first year in office as well as his hopes for South Africa.

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