In a statement on Monday, Ramaphosa said the thoughts of the South African people were with the people of all the affected 35 countries from Africa and overseas.
“The South African diplomatic missions in Addis Ababa and Nairobi have been directed to work with the airline and ascertain whether there were any passengers in the affected plane travelling on South African passports,” the Presidency said.
Flight ET302 was on a scheduled service from Addis Ababa to Kenya when it crashed shortly after take-off.
The airline said the plane was carrying 149 passengers and eight crew.