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Hope revived in South Africa
The thoughtful one-step-at-a-time approach by President Cyril Ramaphosa is welcome on all sides
EARLY PROMISE: President Cyril Ramaphosa, center with black cap, walks with members of the general public in Cape Town, South Africa on Tuesday

SOUTH Africa’s people have experienced such a collective upswing of confidence over the past fortnight that former public protector Thuli Madonsela says Cyril Ramaphosa’s election as state president has “put the country as a whole on the pedestal of hope.”

Madonsela earned the hostility of former president Jacob Zuma, echoed by the African National Congress (ANC) and its allies, for her 2014 report into security upgrades at Zuma’s Nkandla compound that accused him of benefiting unduly from public expenditure.

She was vindicated by subsequent acceptance that her report had been factual, following which Zuma had to pay some of the building costs.

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