The president has pleaded with young, white South Africans not to emigrate.

President Cyril Ramaphosa campaigned in Stellenbosch in the Western Cape earlier this week, jokingly telling an audience at the Beyerskloof wine estate that he would “tie” young white South African to a “tree” if he could, to stop them leaving South Africa.

“I don’t want young white South Africans to leave the country. If I could, I would tie them to a tree,” said a smiling Cyril, according to News24.

He denied that white South Africans were unwanted, saying “there is room for all of us to play a role,” and that white South Africans have valuables skills the country needs.

He added that he hoped white people who had left the country would return.

ACDP leader, Reverand Kenneth Meshoe, has since taken to Twitter to accuse Ramaphosa of being “hypocritical”.

“It is hypocritical for [Cyril Ramaphosa] to urge young white people to stay in the country while they’re denied job opportunities. When it suits him, he uses the race card and blames his government’s failures on apartheid. He must ‘man up’ and take responsibility for his failures,” Meshoe tweeted.

A number of white South Africans also took to Twitter to take issue with Ramaphosa’s attempts at enticing them to stay.

News 24