On March 27, President Cyril Ramaphosa and Health Minister Zweli Mkhize imposed on South Africa one of the strictest lockdowns outside of China to stop the spread of the coronavirus. Among the prohibited activities: dog-walking, jogging, the sale of alcohol, and leaving a place of residence (except for emergencies). At the time restrictions were put in place, South Africa had around 1,000 cases and had just recorded its first deaths. 

The governing African National Congress (ANC) won its smallest percentage ever of votes ever in a national election in the just-concluded 2019 elections. The ANC won 57.5 percent, the Democratic Alliance won 20.77 percent, while the Economic Freedom Fighters won 10.79 percent; the remaining thirty-two parties together won 10.94 percent. 

Cyril Ramaphosa, president of South Africa since January, was a close colleague of Nelson Mandela and regularly associates himself with the Mandela legacy and seeks to restore the late president’s values as South Africa’s lodestar.

Under the leadership of Cyril Ramaphosa, the African National Congress (ANC), improved its electoral performance in the 2019 national elections. The ANC won more than 58 percent of the vote, up from 54 percent in the local government elections of 2016, though still a decline from the 62 percent in won in 2014 national elections. 

Ramaphosa publicly supports expropriation without compensation, which would require amending the constitution, but also stresses that commercial agriculture and the country’s food security must be protected.