Soweto home boy Cyril sparks renewed hope
Cyril Ramaphosa’s victory in the ANC leadership battle has sparked renewed hope among many in Soweto where he grew up – and where frustration with the party has been mounting.
“He is a model because he is one person that came out of the township and became a great businessman in this world,” said 21-year-old journalism student Charlie Khoza from Chiawelo where Ramaphosa was born.
He was among a group of six young men standing on a street corner bathed in sunlight, drinking canned sodas the day after Ramaphosa’s decisive victory in the tight leadership race.
Their optimism for the probable future president and former unionist-turned-businessman was widely shared.
Just streets away from where Ramaphosa was born 65 years ago, Niseman Baleyi, 39, was cutting hair to the rhythm of traditional music.
A father of two and a barber for 20 years, Niseman is increasingly struggling to make ends meet.
But he is optimistic that the election of a billionaire to lead the ANC will mean an economic renaissance for the country where more than a quarter of people are jobless.
As well as soaring unemployment, Africa’s most industrialised economy has suffered as big companies deterred by political uncertainty have opted to swell their cash reserves rather than investing in expansion or job creation.
Tanking investor confidence has led to a spate of credit ratings downgrades.
“People are going to look at South Africa in a different way; and are going to come to create jobs for the youth,” said Khoza.
Many in Soweto are already speaking about Ramaphosa as if he were already head of state – although Zuma will remain the country’s president until 2019 when the country holds elections.
“It’s been over 20 years and we’ve had a lot of promises – and they are not meeting them,” said Mzandile Msingo, 34, a mechanic by training but unemployed for three years.
But Msingo and many others like him in Soweto are adamant that Ramaphosa’s election spells the end of Zuma’s controversial era. – AFP