'Lockdown ends April 16 ... but I didn't mention which year,' jokes Ramaphosa

President Cyril Ramaphosa became a walking meme this week when he joked that while people expected the lockdown to end on April 16, he didn’t say what year that would be.

A meme circulating on social media contains a picture of an emotional woman pointing at Ramaphosa saying “you said 16 April” in reference to the end of the nationwide lockdown. 

Ramaphosa, laughing, replies: “I didn’t mention which year”.

In a recording of a video conference the president held at Rand Water on Tuesday, Ramaphosa gave life to the meme when he said: “Some people are saying the 16th of April (the lockdown will end) but when we announced it I didn’t say what year it would end.”

The entire teleconference broke out in laughter. 

Presidency insiders said the president was definitely making reference to the meme which he had also seen. 

On a serious note, Ramaphosa later told journalists that the government was yet to decide whether the 21-day lockdown would end next Thursday. 

The president was making the point that he wants water distribution to be ramped up even beyond the end of the lockdown. 

“And I don’t know when the lockdown will end,” the president said.