Investors excited by "new era" in South Africa - Ramaphosa

South Africa, Deputy President Cyril Ramaphosa on Thursday at the World’s Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland said Investors are excited about a “new era” amid rising speculation that he may soon replace President Jacob Zuma as head of state.

Ramaphosa said on the sidelines of the Davos economic summit that investors had demonstrated that South Africa was “still an important destination for investment”

“I think we’re going back home filled with a great deal of confidence of the confidence that the international investing community has in us. They have demonstrated that South Africa is still an important destination for investment,” he said.

Ramaphosa succeeded Zuma as the head of the ruling African National Congress last month and there have since been increasing calls from within the party for Zuma to be forced out.

“The positive thing about all this state capture process is that, one, we are now going to go to the depth of what corruption has been taking place in our state-owned enterprises. I think that is a huge plus. Two, we’ve got an independent judge who is going to look at all this,” he added.

Ramaphosa succeeded Zuma as the head of the ruling African National Congress last month and there have since been increasing calls from within the party for Zuma to be forced out.

Zuma became president in 2009 and is set to serve until his second term ends next year, but the ruling African National Congress says it is deciding whether to cut short his tenure in favour of Ramaphosa.

The 75-year-old president has faced and denied numerous corruption allegations since taking office in 2009 and has survived several votes of nonconfidence in parliament.

Ramaphosa is in pole position to win next year’s election. He has pledged to combat corruption and some party officials say he would boost the ANC’s electoral chances were he to take the reins early.