Sello Lediga in The Thuma Mina programme is meant for all of us, not just the ANC, Daily Maverick (22 May 2018)
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The ANC has been the ruling in South Africa since the dawn of democracy in 1994. By the time Ramaphosa rose to speak [in his inaugural State of the Nation address on 16 February 2018], South Africa had experienced nine years of destructive and devastating rule by Jacob Zuma. To give hope to the broken nation, Ramaphosa, in his New Dawn delivery, invoked the lyrics of a song by struggle and music icon Hugh Masekela called Thuma Mina, or Send Me, in a desperate but brilliant effort to galvanise all South Africans to action to reverse the negative effects of the excesses of the Zuma presidency. […] He had struck the right chord with the nation and Thuma Mina instantaneously forced its way into the social and political lexicon of the rainbow nation. […] Hugh Masekela was immortalised.

— Sello Lediga

What It Means

This is a placeholder explanation generated by the low-overhead model. It interprets "The ANC has been the ruling in South Africa since the dawn of democracy in 1994. By the time Ramaphosa rose to speak [in his inaugural State of the Nation address on 16 February 2018], South Africa had experienced nine years of destructive and devastating rule by Jacob Zuma. To give hope to the broken nation, Ramaphosa, in his New Dawn delivery, invoked the lyrics of a song by struggle and music icon Hugh Masekela called Thuma Mina, or Send Me, in a desperate but brilliant effort to galvanise all South Africans to action to reverse the negative effects of the excesses of the Zuma presidency. […] He had struck the right chord with the nation and Thuma Mina instantaneously forced its way into the social and political lexicon of the rainbow nation. […] Hugh Masekela was immortalised." in the context of "Sello Lediga in The Thuma Mina programme is meant for all of us, not just the ANC, Daily Maverick (22 May 2018)" to mean that wisdom is timeless.

Source: Wikiquote: "Cyril Ramaphosa" (Quotes about Ramaphosa) The 'What it means' explanation text was generated by Google Gemini Flash (accessed January 18, 2026). https://gemini.google.com/app
Cyril Ramaphosa

About Cyril Ramaphosa

Matamela Cyril Ramaphosa (born 17 November 1952) is a South African politician serving as President of South Africa since 2018 and President of the African National Congress (ANC) since 2017. Previously an anti-apartheid activist, trade union leader and businessman, Ramaphosa served as Deputy President to President Jacob Zuma and Chairman of the National Planning Commission from 2014 to 2018.