Ramaphosa evokes Mandela in call for graft fight

South Africa’s government will eradicate corruption as it seeks to improve the country’s image abroad and attract more foreign investment, President Cyril Ramaphosa said.

Ramaphosa has vowed to stimulate economic growth, attract investment, fix state companies and root out graft since he replaced Jacob Zuma as president in February, and embarked on an investment drive to raise $100bn over the next five years.

He evoked former President Nelson Mandela’s inauguration speech in 1994, when the country’s first black president vowed the country would never allow the degradation of human rights suffered during the apartheid era.

“Never, never and never again shall corruption be so endemic in our country,” Ramaphosa told South African diplomats at a briefing in the capital, Pretoria. “We don’t want it.”

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