South Africa's new president has delivered a rousing state of the nation address promising to clamp down on corruption. Jacob Zuma was scheduled to deliver the speech, but resigned in disgrace two days ago.
His speech focused heavily on stamping out corruption, responding to a series of corruption scandals that plagued Zuma.
"This is the year in which we will turn the tide on corruption in our public institutions," Ramaphosa said.
"The criminal justice institutions have been taking initiatives that will enable us to deal effectively with corruption.
"We are determined to build a society defined by decency and integrity, that does not tolerate the plunder of public resources, nor the theft by corporate criminals of the hard-earned savings of ordinary people."
Ramaphosa promised to concentrate on creating jobs in 2018 and attracting investment, particularly in the mining sector. Zuma left the nation with a 50-billion-rand ($4.3-billion/€3.44-billion) deficit and a 26.7 percent unemployment rate.
"We will be initiating measures to set the country on a new path of growth, employment and transformation," Ramaphosa said, without giving many policy details.
"We have to build further on the collaboration with business and labor to restore confidence and prevent an investment downgrade.
"Tough decisions have to be made to close our fiscal gap, stabilize our debt and restore our state-owned enterprises to health," he said, adding "our most grave and most pressing challenge is youth unemployment."
He said he could also be downsizing bloated government departments and restructuring inefficient state-owned enterprises.
Ramaphosa appealed directly to the poorer black voters who form the core supporters of his ANC party, saying he would attempt to speed up the transfer of land to black people. Despite apartheid ending two decades ago, white people still own most of the land in the country.
He said he would pursue a policy of "radical economic transformation" to speed up expropriation of land without compensation, in a way that increases agricultural production and improves food security.
Zimbabwe and Gambia disposed of long-term rulers; Kenya and Liberia grappled with chaos after contested elections; terror attacks devastated Somalia and Nigeria. DW takes a look at the most important headlines of 2017.
Image: Reuters/J. Oatway
Gambia's dictator Jammeh lost his grip on power
Yahya Jammeh had been ruling the tiny West African country with an iron fist for 22 years when he unexpectedly lost the 2016 presidential elections to his opponent Adama Barrow. ECOWAS troops were sent to Gambia to convince Jammeh to accept his defeat and step down. In January 2017, he finally left for exile in Equatorial Guinea, but not before plundering the country's state coffers.
Image: picture-alliance/AP/dpa/J. Delay
Uganda stopped its search for rebel leader Kony
Joseph Kony, head of the brutal "Lord's Resistance Army" (LRA), is wanted by the International Criminal Court in The Hague for war crimes and crimes against humanity. Uganda and the US announced in April they would stop hunting Kony since the LRA had become irrelevant. The UN, however, attributes fresh kidnappings in the Democratic Republic of Congo to the LRA.
Image: Stuart Price/AP Photo/dpa/picture alliance
Fear of plunging Nigeria into chaos
Africa's most populous nation suffered from the absence of 74-year old President Muhammadu Buhari, who was in London for medical treatment for three months. Islamist militant group Boko Haram repeatedly carried out deadly attacks in Nigeria's northeast, where millions of people depend on food aid.
Image: Reuters/Nigeria Presidency Handout
Cameroon's crisis heated up
Several people were killed and many more wounded after the symbolic announcement of independence of Cameroon's English-speaking region in October. International observers said at least 40 people died in the clashes. The region in the country's southwest had declared an independent state of "Ambazonia" because people in the region feel neglected by the French-speaking majority.
Image: Reuters/J.Kouam
Chaos after contested elections in Kenya
Kenya's President Uhuru Kenyatta was sworn in for a second term, but opposition leader Raila Odinga refused to accept the election result. The country's Supreme Court had previously nullified the initial vote in August due to voting irregularities. The opposition then boycotted the repeat vote in October. There were clashes with dozens killed.
Image: picture-alliance/AP Photo
Presidential runoff postponed in Liberia
Runoff elections to choose a successor to Liberian President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf were postponed after two parties had launched complaints with Liberia's election commission over alleged fraud during the October polls. Those claims were then rejected, meaning the runoff between former Vice President Joseph Boakai and former soccer star George Weah can go ahead.
Image: Getty Images/AFP/I. Sanogo
South Sudan's civil war fuels hunger
For the past four years, people in South Sudan, the world's youngest nation, have been suffering due to the conflict between supporters of President Salva Kiir and his former deputy Riek Machar. A third of the population has been displaced from their homes. About five million people - that's half of South Sudan's population - go hungry. Arable land has been destroyed by fighting, the UN said.
Image: Aktion Deutschland Hilft/Max Kupfer
Somalia suffered worst attack in its history
A truck full of explosives detonated at a busy intersection in Somalia's capital Mogadishu in mid-October, killing hundreds of people. So far, no one has claimed responsibility for the attack which has been described as the worst in the history of the East African nation. The government blames the terror group al-Shabab for the bombing.
Image: picture alliance/dpa/AAS. Mohamed
No peace for Mali
The West African nation has been grappling with crises for six years: First a coup, then a separatist uprising in the north followed by a jihadist insurgency. The 11,000-strong UN peace-keeping mission has repeatedly been attacked - in January, 77 soldiers were killed in the worst attack to date. Al-Qaeda-linked fighters claimed responsibility for the suicide bombing.
Image: Getty Images/AFP
Autocratic ruler Mugabe ousted
After 37 years in power, Zimbabwe's military put President Robert Mugabe under house arrest after he fired his deputy Emmerson Mnangagwa to install his wife as vice President. 93-year-old Mugabe then quit amid impeachment proceedings. Mnangagwa was sworn in as president, but has since disappointed those who had hoped he would include opposition members in his cabinet.
Image: picture alliance/dpa/NurPhoto/B. Khaled
Kabila clings to power
President Joseph Kabila of the Democratic Republic of Congo has already served the two terms allowed by the country's constitution. Even though his second term finished at the end of 2016, he kept postponing new elections. They are now scheduled for the end of 2018. Police have stifled street protests and arrested demonstrators, opposition groups say.
Image: picture alliance/dpa/AP Photo/J. Bompengo
Corruption scandal widens in South Africa
Corruption allegations involving South African President Jacob Zuma and the wealthy Gupta family have picked up during the year. International companies were accused of having paid kickbacks in order to win government contracts. The country's economy is suffering with unemployment rates hovering around 30 percent. The fight over who gets to replace Zuma is expected to pick up steam in 2018.
Image: Reuters/J. Oatway
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Responses to his speech
Mmusi Maimane, the leader of the opposition Democratic Alliance party, said the president was reading from an old script.
"We could have gotten more bolder action today, but I heard more of the same stuff," Maimane said.
The leader of the far-left Economic Freedom Fighters party (EFF), Julius Malema, said he welcomed the commitments to shrink the cabinet and take back land. "He [Ramaphosa] has a lot of ideas but no plan of how to go about it, but let's give the benefit of doubt," Malema said.
Narend Singh, chief whip of the Inkatha Freedom Party, the fourth largest party, spoke effusively.
"The last positive speech of this sort that I heard was in 1994 when Madiba spoke," he said, referring to former President Nelson Mandela. "He's returned faith in members of parliament — and in South Africans."
The rand currency rallied soon after Ramaphosa started his speech, trading at close to a three-year high.
