President Cyril Ramaphosa displayed some skilful on-the-spot manoeuvring over the weekend when he had to reassure fellow heads of state attending the G20 summit in the port city of Osaka that their investments in South Africa would be safe considering all the talk of land expropriation without compensation.
Shaking hands with the prime minister of the host country, Shinzo Abe, Ramaphosa reiterated that foreign investments in South Africa would be safe.
He guaranteed that the land question would be tackled within the boundaries of the constitution.
He also reminded leaders and emissaries from Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Saudi Arabia, South Korea, Turkey, the UK and the US that “South Africa is the most industrialised nation on the continent” and that trade relations with “Africa’s gateway” would put their countries in an advantageous position.
According to Ramaphosa, South Africa has started a “new era as an entrepreneurial state”.
