CYRIL RAMAPHOSA AT FNB STADIUM IN SOWETO IN FEB 1990

President Cyril Ramaphosa is a very busy today, trying to steer the country away from the dreaded Corona Virus pandemic. He is just as busy as he was during the early days in the 1970s, 1980s and early 1990s when he was leader of the National Union of Mineworkers(NUM), Cosatu, and the ANC. In the historic photo above he is seen with Murphy Morobe, a leader of the United Democratic Front(UDF), busy making preparations for the welcome ceremony of Nelson Mandela at the FNB stadium in February 1990. Mr Mandela was released from Robben Island on February 11 in Cape Town where he delivered a major message to tens of thousands of people about a future non-racial and democratic South Africa. Ramaphosa was there in Polsmoor Prison and in Cape Town centre when Mandela was welcomed back home. A day later he was welcomed by tens of thousands of people at the FNB stadium in Johannesburg where he delivered a similar message that he delivered to the people of Cape Town. Ramaphosa became a close confidante of Nelson Mandela during the political negotiations, the April 1994 elections and the election of Mandela as Presdident. It was expected that he would have been chosen deputy president but this was stymied when former President, Thabo Mbeki, was elected as one of Mandela's deputy presidents along with F W de Klerk. Ramaphosa withdrew into the background during Mbeki's reign and only returned after Mbeki was toppled in 2009 by Jacob Zuma. Now as President, Ramaphosa is not only working overtime to contain the pandemic but also to reconstruct the social and economic life of the country. He was well on his way to eradicating the corruption that has gripped the country since 2010 after taking power in 2019. It's hoped that the Corona Virus will not last long and that President Ramaphosa will continue with his battles to restore to the people the social, economic and political values of the Mandelas, Sisulus, Mbekis, Kathradas and the other Robben Island prisoners who sacrificed their lives for our freedom. ends - subrygovender@gmail.com (May 16 2020)