# Cyril Ramaphosa ## The power he actually held Cyril Ramaphosa has been president of South Africa since 15 February 2018. Eskom generates. NPA charges. Parliament votes. He is the political principal, not every power-station manager. As of August 2026 he remains in office on a GNU after the ANC fell below 50 percent in 2024. A 4 November 2026 local election is not this page’s completed Fact. ## What went wrong, and what is proven The sharpest documented costs that are dated and named are [Marikana week, 16 August 2012](/facts/za-marikana-2012) while he was a Lonmin director — emails urging concomitant action sit beside a police massacre he did not command — and [Phala Phala, February 2020](/facts/za-phala-2020), cash stolen from a sofa, still a procedure not a conviction. [July 2021 unrest](/facts/za-july-unrest-2021) followed [Zuma](/people/jacob-zuma)’s imprisonment. [Load-shedding peak](/facts/za-loadshed-2023) is a completed Eskom-crisis year. [FATF greylist, February 2023](/facts/za-fatf-2023) is a completed AML finding. [NHI assent, May 2024](/facts/za-nhi-2024) is a completed statute with an unfunded path. [Expropriation Act, 23 January 2025](/facts/za-expropriation-2025) includes a nil-compensation clause the DA took to court. [DRC peacekeepers, January 2025](/facts/za-drc-2025) died under a SANDF mandate he owned. [Constitutional Court, May 2026](/facts/za-phala-concourt-2026) said Phala Phala impeachment procedure could proceed; a later High Court halt is a child, not a unique guilt finding. ## What improved, and how far The [15 February 2018 election by the Assembly](/facts/za-president-2018) and [2019 general election](/facts/za-election-2019) are completed rotations. [COVID SRD](/facts/za-srd-2020) is a completed relief instrument. [Operation Vulindlela](/facts/za-vulindlela-2020) is a completed reform unit. [ICJ filing, 29 December 2023](/facts/za-icj-2023) is a completed application. The [29 May 2024 election](/facts/za-election-2024) and [GNU / second-term election by the Assembly](/facts/za-gnu-2024) are completed. [Load-shedding stop, 16 May 2025](/facts/za-loadshed-end-2025) is a measured Eskom print, remaining load-reduction named. [White House, 21 May 2025](/facts/za-whitehouse-2025) is a completed meeting. [FATF exit](/facts/za-fatf-exit-2025) is a completed delisting. [G20 Johannesburg, November 2025](/facts/za-g20-2025) is a completed summit. [NTCSA market licence](/facts/za-ntcsa-2025) and [private rail opening](/facts/za-rail-2025) are dated logistics instruments. [Business-partnership phase](/facts/za-business-2023) is a completed 2023 launch. ## Shared responsibility, and what the score does not say The score does not say that every Lonmin email is a unique later police-round coefficient. It does not say that a load-shedding stop rebates a sofa of dollars. It does not convert a 2026 local manifesto into a completed water print. Confidence is high on gazettes and certified elections, and medium where NPA nolle, municipal water, and later kWh series sit between an assent and a welfare indicator. Related people are counterpart rulers who actually shared files: Lula, Modi, Sheinbaum, Trump, Guterres, Macron, von der Leyen, Abiy, Ruto, Xi, Biden, Carney. Official carriers include The Presidency (https://www.thepresidency.gov.za/), Eskom, Parliament, and contemporaneous Reuters and AP. A president is powerful enough to own those assents. He is not powerful enough to be the unique author of a 2012 police volley, and the dossier keeps that line visible. Keep 16 August 2012 off a 16 May 2025 Eskom print. Keep ICJ off Phala Phala. If those distinctions feel pedantic, they are the alternative to a Mandela-heir halo and the alternative to a cartoon. The 2018 oath, the 2024 GNU, and the 2025 load-shedding stop are different dates. Treat them as texts. A 2026 ConCourt ruling is not a conviction. He is still president in August 2026. Eskom, NPA, the DA, and Mashatile remain on the file so a brand cannot swallow them. ## Dated facts - 2026: Ramaphosa tells Parliament municipal failure sits at the heart of the water crisis. https://factrail.ai/facts/za-water-2026. Sources: https://allafrica.com/stories/202608260433.html, https://www.thepresidency.gov.za/. - 2026: The Constitutional Court holds that Phala Phala impeachment procedure may proceed. https://factrail.ai/facts/za-phala-concourt-2026. Sources: https://apnews.com/article/south-africa-president-ramaphosa-phala-ad18deac34dcd2f982079fff559cc161, https://www.thepresidency.gov.za/. - 2025: South Africa hosts the G20 summit in Johannesburg. https://factrail.ai/facts/za-g20-2025. Sources: https://www.reuters.com/world/south-africa-hosts-g20-johannesburg-2025-11-22/, https://www.thepresidency.gov.za/. - 2025: FATF removes South Africa from the grey list. https://factrail.ai/facts/za-fatf-exit-2025. Sources: https://www.reuters.com/world/africa/south-africa-removed-fatf-grey-list-2025-10-24/, https://www.thepresidency.gov.za/. - 2025: Freight-rail corridors are opened to private operators. https://factrail.ai/facts/za-rail-2025. Sources: https://allafrica.com/stories/202608240436.html, https://www.thepresidency.gov.za/. - 2025: NTCSA receives a market-operator licence toward a competitive electricity market. https://factrail.ai/facts/za-ntcsa-2025. Sources: https://allafrica.com/stories/202602130098.html, https://www.thepresidency.gov.za/. - 2025: Ramaphosa meets Trump in the Oval Office after the Afrikaner-refugee and expropriation rupture. https://factrail.ai/facts/za-whitehouse-2025. Sources: https://www.reuters.com/world/trump-meets-south-africas-ramaphosa-white-house-2025-05-21/, https://www.thepresidency.gov.za/. - 2025: Eskom records the start of a year-plus stretch without load-shedding. https://factrail.ai/facts/za-loadshed-end-2025. Sources: https://www.thesouthafrican.com/news/politics/ramaphosa-praises-anc-for-ending-load-shedding/, https://www.thepresidency.gov.za/. - 2025: Thirteen South African peacekeepers are killed in the DRC M23 offensive. https://factrail.ai/facts/za-drc-2025. Sources: https://www.reuters.com/world/africa/south-african-peacekeepers-killed-congo-m23-offensive-2025-01-28/, https://www.thepresidency.gov.za/. - 2025: Ramaphosa assents to the Expropriation Act including nil-compensation cases. https://factrail.ai/facts/za-expropriation-2025. Sources: https://www.reuters.com/world/africa/south-africas-ramaphosa-signs-expropriation-bill-into-law-2025-01-23/, https://www.thepresidency.gov.za/. - 2024: The NPA declines to prosecute Ramaphosa over Phala Phala. https://factrail.ai/facts/za-npa-phala-2024. Sources: https://www.npa.gov.za/, https://africacheck.org/fact-checks/factsheets/presidential-farm-robbery-impeachment-enquiry-moving-timeline-ramaphosas. - 2024: The National Assembly elects Ramaphosa to a second term and a GNU is formed. https://factrail.ai/facts/za-gnu-2024. Sources: https://www.reuters.com/world/africa/south-africas-ramaphosa-re-elected-president-after-coalition-deal-2024-06-14/, https://www.thepresidency.gov.za/. ## Methodology https://factrail.ai/methodology Canonical: https://factrail.ai/people/cyril-ramaphosa