Pieter du Toit | ‘A dreadful fellow’: Ramaphosa found SA a difficult sell in the UK

The embattled president’s state visit to Britain last week, despite the finery of the palace and the pomp of parades, did not go down well. SA is becoming a hard sell, writes Pieter du Toit.

Embattled President Cyril Ramaphosa's state visit to the United Kingdom last week showed exactly how difficult a sell South Africa is becoming.

The President, in speeches to, and engagements with, the British prime minister, a joint sitting of Parliament, the SA-UK Business Roundtable, the royals and the Lord Mayor’s dinner at the Guildhall, had the difficult task to ask for support while sticking it to the West and detailing progress with the economy and related reforms.