South African President Cyril Ramaphosa provided some humorous relief by requesting his iPad, which contained his speech, igniting a firestorm on Twitter.
The President was set to deliver the keynote speech in Cape Town at an event marking the establishment of the National Ports Authority as an independent subsidiary of Transnet.
After being invited to the podium, Mr Ramaphosa appeared stranded, asking for his Ipad.
“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,” Mr Ramaphosa said amid some giggling in the audience.
He then turned to Tyrone Seale, the president’s spokesman, and asked, “Do you know where they took my iPad?” This is the issue of constantly handing out your electronics to others. It’s always better if I have all of these things on me at all times.
“I had my iPad, I had it in my hand. It’s gone. I have lost it, it seems,” the President said.
Mr Seale walked away then returned and murmured something to Mr Ramaphosa who then asked, “Should I sit down?” before he walked off the podium to take his seat.
Minutes later, Mr Seale reintroduced his boss, “Mr President, I think you have been suitably equipped now.”
Mr Ramaphosa then walked back to the podium with his iPad in his hands and said “okay” before commencing his speech.
The presidency spokesperson later said the President’s device was not stolen.
“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,” he told Eyewitness News.