‘He was so calm and patient with her’: President Cyril Ramaphosa meets his biggest fan

For almost a year the little girl had been dreaming of meeting her hero: President Cyril Ramaphosa. She posted videos on social media and wrote letters with her mom’s help, begging the country’s first citizen for a meet-up.

Mehran Dildar of Isipingo near Durban is such a fan she even had the president’s face on her birthday cake. But the months crept by and still no Ramaphosa – until one day the phone rang.

On the line was someone from the president’s office saying Ramaphosa knew about his No 1 fan. The representative told Mehran’s mom, Fatima Yacoob Dildar, that the president had seen some of her videos, read reports about her and would be honoured to meet her.