The following is an open letter of congratulations to the newly elected President of South Africa, Cyril Ramaphosa.

Dear Mr President,

I am writing to offer you and your team best wishes after your recent mandate for a new term as a result of the just-completed elections in South Africa. I do so on behalf of a group of Bermudians, listed below.

The group of us are only a small representation of the many Bermudians who actively supported the global movement that helped to leverage the historic changes in your country in the early 1990s.

Let me remind you of your visit to Bermuda during Easter week of 1990. At that time, you and your colleagues had little chance to fully appreciate our island, being deeply involved in key cross-party talks regarding bringing an end to the apartheid regime.

On the eve of that Good Friday, I picked you up from the Lantana Hotel and took you to the Bermuda Industrial Union, where you met others involved in the Bermuda Anti-Apartheid Coalition. We had that opportunity to meet you because of our close collaboration with the British Anti-Apartheid Movement.

You may recall that this happened during the same week that George Bush and Margaret Thatcher held a summit in Bermuda.

In congratulating you on leading your party’s success at the polls, we should note that we support your post-election public commitment to address any and all corruption within your government.

South Africa remains a beacon for not only the continent of Africa, but globally.

That said, it goes without saying that ensuring systems that protect the assets of the people of any country is essential.

The legacy of the founding leadership the new South Africa provided an important example. We wish you well in ensuring that your generation can build on that foundation in the new challenges of these times.

Signed: Arlene Brock, former Bermuda Ombudsman (recently Director of the African Ombudsman Research Centre at the University of KwaZulu Natal Law School)

W. Alex Scott, former Premier of Bermuda

Canon Thomas Nesbitt, former honorary chairman of the Bermuda Anti-Apartheid Coalition

Ottiwell Simmons, former president of the Bermuda Industrial Union

Alvin Williams, local author who was directly involved in the founding of the anti-apartheid movement in Bermuda

Authored by Glenn Fubler, former co-ordinator of the Bermuda Anti-Apartheid Coalition

• Glenn Fubler represents Imagine Bermuda