On October 13th Robert Guest, The Economist’s foreign editor, and John McDermott, the Africa Correspondent, interviewed South Africa’s presidentOct 18th 2019The transcript below has been lightly edited for clarity.RG: Mr President, last time I asked you for an interview it was about twenty years ago and you were too busy sorting out the problems of Northern Ireland to see me. So thanks for that. We might need you again! [laughter]Choose us for news analysis that respects your time and intelligenceSubscribe to The EconomistWe filter out the noise of the daily news cycle and analyse the trends that matterWe give you rigorous, deeply researched and fact-checked journalism. That’s why Americans named us their most trusted news source in 2017Available wherever you are—in print, digital and, uniquely, in audio, fully narrated by professional broadcastersThis website adheres to all nine of NewsGuard‘s standards of credibility and transparency.ORContinue reading this articleRegister with an email address