Can Cyril Ramaphosa drive, asks Mzansi as he tests 'drive-assist' car in Japan
A picture of President Cyril Ramaphosa “testing driving” a new Nissan Leaf in Japan has sparked mixed reaction on social media.
Ramaphosa visited Nissan’s global headquarters and the company’s Oppama Plant in Japan on Wednesday. This after the Nissan Group of Africa announced its continued investment in SA earlier this year.
Ramaphosa was attending the seventh Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICAD) in Yokohama, the theme of which was “Advancing Africa’s Development Through Technology, Innovation and People”.
The presidency posted the image of Ramaphosa "test driving" the semi-autonomous drive-assist vehicle on Twitter.
President @CyrilRamaphosa is taken on a guided tour of the Nissan Motor Corporation Oppama Plant by Nissan South Africa’s Managing Director, Mr Izumi-san in Yokohama, Japan.#InvestSA #TICAD7 #BetterAfricaBetterWorld pic.twitter.com/muKvaPAcFS
— PresidencyZA (@PresidencyZA) August 28, 2019
President @CyrilRamaphosa test drives the Nissan Leaf semi autonomous drive-assist model at the Oppama Plant - Nissan is leading motor vehicle research in the next phase of autonoumous driving and electronic cars. #InvestSA #TICAD7 🇯🇵 #BetterAfricaBetterWorld pic.twitter.com/Gh9u9Gpa1E
— PresidencyZA (@PresidencyZA) August 28, 2019
Those who saw the snap reacted, including the EFF's deputy president, Floyd Shivambu. Some poked fun at Ramaphosa, questioning his driving skills. Here is a snapshot:
A President of South Africa should showcase a MADE IN SOUTH AFRICA car. With many assembling factories for years, South Africa can and should manufacture its own cars, to avoid a president advertising a Japanese car, where AFRICAN Heads of a state were convened by 1 country. https://t.co/WZHb5qeRqg
— Floyd Shivambu (@FloydShivambu) August 28, 2019