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‘South Africa is in a new era; an era of great promise,' Ramaphosa tells UN General Assembly

‘South Africa is in a new era; an era of great promise,' Ramaphosa tells UN General Assembly
Victoria O’Regan
By Victoria O’Regan
24 Sep 2024
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President Cyril Ramaphosa is in the US, leading a large government delegation to sell the Government of National Unity reforms and South Africa to the world at the United Nations this week.

Addressing the United Nations General Assembly for the first time since the formation of South Africa’s Government of National Unity (GNU), President Cyril Ramaphosa struck a deliberately inclusive and unifying chord – making the case for solidarity and international cooperation in an increasingly polarised world.

“Through dialogue, through respect for the rule of law, through the advancement of human rights, through cooperation and solidarity, we can and we will be able to achieve a better world for all the peoples of the world,” Ramaphosa concluded in his speech to the General Assembly on Tuesday, 24 September. 

Ramaphosa’s message of unity in diversity and solidarity was one which played a central role in the formation of South Africa’s new political reality. 

“Thirty years ago, South Africa was born as a new nation, equal, united and free from apartheid. We adopted a new Constitution as the birth certificate of our new nation. Our first democratic elections brought the tyranny of apartheid to an end, a system that this General Assembly had declared to be a crime against humanity. 

“The UN was a beacon of hope in our quest for justice. The great wave of solidarity of the peoples of the world, led by the UN, turned the tide against apartheid. 

“Today, democracy flourishes in South Africa… We have just held our seventh free and fair general elections since our democracy, paving the way for the formation of a Government of National Unity. Ten political parties have coalesced around a common agenda for economic growth, job creation, poverty eradication and sustainable development.

“South Africa is in a new era; an era of great promise,” he said.

Pressing challenges


Ramaphosa told world leaders that the GNU was making “headway in resolving” some of South Africa’s most pressing challenges. 

“Our economy has started to improve and investor confidence is on the rise. Our country’s prospects look bright.”

The President and five of his Cabinet ministers have been rubbing shoulders with fellow world leaders and meeting potential investors on the margins of the 79th session of the UN General Assembly in New York this week. Since his arrival on Saturday 21 September, Ramaphosa has made a strong case for South Africa’s GNU in engagements on the sidelines of the General Assembly. 

The high-level General Assembly General Debate, which began on Tuesday, followed two weeks of meetings and is the most widely watched engagement in the UN’s annual calendar. 

This year the debate takes place against the backdrop of increased global insecurity, including soaring tensions in the Middle East and Israel’s war in Gaza; the civil war and humanitarian catastrophe in Sudan; and Russia’s ongoing invasion of Ukraine, as well as increased threats to the multilateral system. 

In his UN General Assembly speech, Ramaphosa called on nations to “through the UN and the instruments it wields… end the suffering that Palestinians are subjected to”, reiterating the need to uphold the principles of the UN Charter “consistently and in their entirety”, and the tenets of international law. 

“International law cannot be applied selectively, no one state is more equal than any other,” he declared. 

“The violence that Palestinian people are being subjected to is a grim continuation of more than half a century of apartheid that has been perpetrated against Palestinians by Israel. 

“We South Africans know what apartheid looks like. We lived through apartheid. We suffered and died under apartheid. We will not remain silent and watch as apartheid is perpetrated against others,” Ramaphosa said.

GNU charm offensive


This is President Ramaphosa’s first visit to the US since the 2024 general elections when his party, the ANC, failed to gain an outright majority. 

Read more: Cometh the hour, cometh the man – Ramaphosa the right president for the GNU job

Minister of International Relations and Cooperation Ronald Lamola; Minister in the Presidency Maropene Ramokgopa; Minister of Health Aaron Motsoaledi; Minister of Environment, Forestry and Fisheries Dion George; and Minister of Trade, Industry and Competition Parks Tau are with Ramaphosa in New York. 

In a statement ahead of his visit, the Presidency said Ramaphosa would “engage business leaders as part of the drive to attract foreign investment for South Africa” while in New York. The decision to bring with him Ministers Tau, George and Motsoaledi is a strategic move by Ramaphosa to lure foreign investment in areas such as South Africa’s Just Energy Transition and the National Health Insurance (NHI).

In his UN General Assembly speech, Ramaphosa criticised industrialised nations for “not honouring their climate commitments” and repeated the call for “predictable and sustainable financing for climate action”.

Speaking at the Business Council for International Understanding (BCIU) round table on Monday, 23 September, Ramaphosa said nearly four months had passed since South Africa’s general elections had birthed a GNU. The GNU was the model inaugurated by former president Nelson Mandela to transfer South Africa from an apartheid state to a constitutional democracy in 1994, he said.

Ramaphosa himself played a pivotal role in the formation of the 1994 GNU. Thirty years later, it again won his favour, suiting his temperament as a negotiator and a believer in big-tent politics, Daily Maverick’s Ferial Haffajee wrote.

Read more: ‘A new ruling order has to be built’ — Roelf Meyer on SA’s power-sharing future

“This time we did it on a voluntary basis; bringing together 10 political parties to coalesce around a common agenda for economic growth and sustainable development in our country. The 10 parties which come from diverse histories, backgrounds and ideological orientations … have in the past four months been working together, forging a way forward for South Africa,” Ramaphosa said.

He called the formation of the GNU the country’s “second miracle” after the 1994 GNU. 

He said that United Nations (UN) Secretary-General António Guterres had, on Sunday, 22 September, congratulated him on the formation of the GNU, saying the world could learn a few lessons from South Africa “in forging unity and bringing diverse people together to take our country forward”. 



Ramaphosa said that through the GNU, South Africa was “seeking to drive further reforms in our country; reforms that will leverage the strength of our key economic sectors such as mining, energy and manufacturing. 

“South Africa is committed on its path to moving our economy forward; to contributing its fair share to reducing greenhouse gas emissions and adapting and mitigating the impacts of climate change.”

Tau accompanied Ramaphosa to the BCIU round table on Monday as part of the move to woo foreign investors. Ramaphosa’s investment charm offensive comes as the US is deliberating the extension of South Africa’s participation in the African Growth and Opportunity Act (Agoa). 

Tau was in Washington in July to attend the Agoa forum and to lobby the Biden administration and Congress to save Agoa and keep relations between SA and the US on track, Daily Maverick’s Peter Fabricius reported. Following his visit, he said he was confident the US would renew South Africa’s Agoa membership. 

Read more: Agoa, agoing, agoner? Uncertainty dogs US trade policy for Africa — here are the risks

‘Sworn enemies’

Ramaphosa’s message of confidence about the new coalition government was repeated at a New York Stock Exchange engagement on Monday. The President, humbled by the electorate, acknowledged the ANC’s loss in the 29 May polls, saying “it was a clear message from the people of South Africa that we should work together. 

“The world faces enormous challenges and problems, and we have, once again, found a way of addressing those challenges by working together. This development has been welcomed by business people in our country; the level of confidence has now gone up enormously,” said Ramaphosa.

“The message that we are beaming to the world is that it should see South Africa’s step and development as something that can be emulated; it’s something that other countries can [aspire] to.”

The formation of the “business-friendly” GNU has ignited a wave of investment and positive sentiment about South Africa, signalling a reversal of years of economic stagnation, News24 reported this week. After the coalition agreement in July, several businesses either invested further in South Africa or reversed plans to withdraw their investments.

Among the business leaders Ramaphosa met while in New York was Tesla and SpaceX founder and CEO, Elon Musk. In a post on X, which is owned by South African-born Musk, the Presidency said the discussion “explored opportunities” for Musk to invest in South Africa.



Ramaphosa once again invoked the spirit of Nelson Mandela as the driving force behind negotiating the GNU within 14 days. “We, armed with the clear lessons from Nelson Mandela, were able to get people to work together to put this GNU in place,” he said. 

Read more: GNU centre must hold — but it will not be easy, or simple

His delegation to New York now included ministers from other parties like Environment Minister George (DA), “and some of them were our [the ANC’s] sworn enemies to the death,” Ramaphosa said to applause and laughter from the audience.

“But today we have embraced one another, we are working together and we are all amazed at the level of cooperation that has been engendered by this spirit that was initiated by Nelson Mandela,” he continued.

“South Africa is on the move,” Ramaphosa maintained. “The GNU is precisely what we needed to do.” DM

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