Cyril’s 70th birthday celebrations
Cakes in Bali, Sri Lanka and inside presidential jet Inkwazi make his day
When President Cyril Ramaphosa walked into his hotel suite in Bali on Wednesday, he was surprised to find a chocolate cake, side plates and a knife on the table, along with a waiting delegation of formally dressed staff led in song by international relations minister Naledi Pandor.
Ramaphosa, who turned 70 yesterday, excitedly put his hands together as “Happy Birthday” degenerated into chants of “How old are you now?”
In a video shared on Twitter, a gushing Ramaphosa says: “Oh my God.”
The pre-birthday celebrations began while Ramaphosa was participating in the G20 leaders summit held in Bali, Indonesia.
He had just finished recording a special message intended for the Eastern Cape investment conference when he found people in his room.
Presidency spokesperson Vincent Magwenya said: “When he walked back in, he was not expecting to see us. We started singing, and he was blushing slightly.”
Ramaphosa then left to go to the summit venue for the bilateral discussions with other world leaders.
On his way back to South Africa from the summit, the presidential jet Inkwazi made a routine stop in Colombo, Sri Lanka, to refuel.
This is where another surprise awaited the president.
“Normally, when we travel on flights longer than 10 hours we stop to refuel, so on our way to Bali the president made a routine stop in Sri Lanka, and the ambassador and staff served us tea and coffee,” said Magwenya.
On the flight back, Inkwazi made the same stop in Sri Lanka to refuel, but the team was shocked when they were ushered into another part of the airport controlled by the Sri Lankan Air Force.
“There we were welcomed by a group of bagpipe players, and we thought it was colourful and interesting, but we had no idea what awaited us.
“The president of Sri Lanka and other senior officials from the air force surprised the president with an amazing dinner, hospitality and dance show in honour of his 70th birthday.”
A square traditional Sri Lankan cake was brought onto the table with traditional Sri Lankan music playing in the background.
“Wow, this is unbelievable!” said Ramaphosa with open arms.
After refuelling, Ramaphosa and his delegation made their way back to SA, and when the clock struck midnight on November 17, members of the SA Air Force in the presidential jet brought out another chocolate cake and sang for the president.
Despite all the challenges Ramaphosa is juggling. Magwenya said he remains in “good spirits”.
“The president has a manner of just dealing with situations in a way that does not come across as unsettled and unsure. He is in very good spirits, I think he is really going to enjoy his birthday celebration.