His own approval rating is 60 percent, while his two main rivals, Mmusi Maimane, the leader of the centre-right DA, and Julius Malema, who heads the radical Economic Freedom Fighters, polled 42% and 38% respectively, a survey commissioned by the South African Institute of Race Relations shows. And 55% of 3,431 adults canvassed late last year by the University of Johannesburg's Centre for Social Development expressed trust in the presidency under Ramaphosa, 66, compared with 26% under Zuma.
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"When Cyril Ramaphosa was here, it's when I realised that something is about to change," said Tshepo Dichaba, 19, who runs a barber shop from a curb-side shack in Alexandra. "It's easy to believe him, unlike Zuma. If he told me he was going to build houses, my first thought would be yes, he will."
Despite his popularity among the electorate, Ramaphosa's hold on the ANC remains tenuous. The party remains deeply divided following a bruising leadership battle in December 2017, when he took over the helm of the party from Zuma. Several Zuma allies who've been implicated in graft inquiries continue to occupy top posts and could try to topple Ramaphosa in an internal vote in 2022.
"The danger is not the outcome of the forthcoming elections," said Sethulego Matebesi, a political analyst at the University of the Free State, who rates Ramaphosa as the best leader the country's had since Nelson Mandela stepped down in 1999. "The danger for South Africa is what is going to happen in the next elective conference of the ANC. There is a absolutely no guarantee that Cyril Ramaphosa will come back after five years for a second term."
And investors remain skeptical that Ramaphosa can push through such promises as to revive the flagging economy and rein in runaway government debt. Business confidence is at a two-year low, the nation's final investment-grade rating is hanging by a thread and the rand has dropped almost 20 percent against the dollar since he took office, battered by power blackouts and lacklustre growth.