It was a light moment: South Africa govt denies somebody stole President Ramaphosas iPad

South African President Cyril Ramaphosa on Tuesday lit up social media after a video emerged of him at the podium claiming his iPad had been stolen, a remark his government has now dismissed.

President Ramaphosa was scheduled to speak at the Port of Cape Town but could not, for a few minutes, as he was unable to find the iPad which contained his speech.

The presidency spokesperson Tyrone Seale had introduced the Head of State to make his remarks but had to ask him to sit back down as they located the gadget.

“I’m looking for my iPad. Somebody stole my iPad, somebody decided that they want to dispossess me of my iPad. Can I have my iPad, please? So they stole it. I had my iPad,” said President Ramaphosa, to some light giggling from the crowd.

“Do you know where they took my iPad?” He posed to the spokesperson, before continuing, “This is the problem of always handing out your gadgets to other people. It’s always best that I should keep all these things with me all the time. I had my iPad, I had it in my hand. It’s gone. I have lost it, it seems.”

Spokesperson Seale is then seen, in the video, approaching the President and seemingly asking him to return to his seat, to which Ramaphosa asks, as if in confirmation, “should I sit down?” before proceeding to do so.

He is later invited back on the podium with Mr. Seale telling him this time that, “Mr. President, I think you have been suitably equipped now.”

Cyril Ramaphosa:

I'm waiting for my iPad, somebody stole my iPad…..

Should I sit down? Okay pic.twitter.com/XcPZTyAGBa

— Izwe Lethu (@LandNoli) June 22, 2021

The South African presidency however later came out to deny the reports drawn by media from the video that President Ramaphosa’s iPad had been stolen, saying instead that that was just a light moment.

“Thank you, South Africa. There was no question of the iPad being missing or stolen. The President was making a light-hearted point while waiting for the iPad to be brought to him  – which it was before he began his remarks to the media,” read a statement posted on the presidency’s Twitter account.

https://twitter.com/PresidencyZA/status/1407339258629734413