Newly-elected President Cyril Ramaphosa on Saturday told his compatriots that he was ready to serve them in order to bring about change for the better for all South Africans.
Speaking after being sworn-in as the country’s leader at Pretoria’s Loftus Versfeld Stadium, Ramaphosa said that he was ready to work with all stakeholders to build a country that “we all deserve.”
The president said: “I pledge here today that I will serve you, I will work with you, side by side, to build the South Africa that we all want and deserve.”
With his inauguration, he said “a new era has dawned in our country. A brighter day is rising upon South Africa and upon our beloved continent of Africa.”
In this regard, the South African leader urged both his compatriots and fellow Africans elsewhere that “Africa is poised once again to rise, to assume its place among the free and equal nations of the world.
“We must use that innovative talent that originated in Africa to embrace and use the Fourth Industrial Revolution to develop Africa and create jobs for the youth and empower the women of our continent.”
An audience of 30,000 people filled the stadium to capacity, including heads of states from seven African countries.
Ramaphosa ascends to the presidency following the 8 May presidential and parliamentary polls that saw the ruling African National Congress win the majority seats in the House, thereby enabling him to be elected by MPs to serve the country’s highest office.
NM/abj/APA