President Cyril Ramaphosa surprised fellow passengers and delighted social media users when he boarded a Safair flight bound for Durban on Friday morning -- in economy class. Passengers took selfies with the president and Twitter users praised him for leading by example following former president Jacob Zuma's tenure, which was tainted by allegations of corruption and money squandering.
Some shared pictures of the president on Twitter.
President Cyril Ramaphosa flying economy. Interesting #SouthAfrica pic.twitter.com/dtGetgUsZp
— Tosin Badeniyi,Ph.D (@tosynolu) March 30, 2018
President @CyrilRamaphosa flying economy.
— Terence Michael (@terencetsilo01) March 30, 2018
My man!!😂 pic.twitter.com/tY5hlsVClH
Others praised the head of state's gesture.
We salute #cyrilramaphosa the President of the Republic for leading by example in reducing expenditure by flying economy class. Hope that ALL officials will follow this example.
— Vuyisile Khumalo™ (@KHUMAVU) March 30, 2018
@PresidencyZA @MYANC
— Adrian (@adrianbutta) March 30, 2018
A president I will follow. Leading from the front @CyrilRamaphosa.
President Cyril Ramaphosa causes a stir as he is spotted flying economy classhttps://t.co/OdpGLupPzd?
shared via @News24
@CyrilRamaphosa very impressive my President. Now please ensure that all Ministers & Gov Officials only fly Economy Class, Rent Ordinary Vehicles & sleep at 4 Star Hotels https://t.co/8esi0UqdWn
— Dido (@ShaunDido) March 30, 2018
Ramaphosa's spokesperson Khusela Diko told News24 that the president will at all times use the mode of transport which is most practical, convenient and cost-effective for his duties.