In our diverse society, different people nominate different individuals to be 'Person of the Year' for many reasons. And yet, despite respecting the will of our readers, for me, there can be only one person in South Africa who deserves that title in 2024: President Cyril Ramaphosa.

Media organisations often nominate the leader of a country or a politician who has just won an election to be their "Person of the Year". That person is presumed to have more influence than anyone else in the country and often creates the most news because their words and deeds matter the most.

This is why Adolf Hitler was Time's Man of the Year in 1938 and Donald Trump is its Person of the Year now and was in 2016.

This would already put President Cyril Ramaphosa in prime position to be Daily Maverick's 2024 Person of the Year.

Read more about Daily Maverick's Person of the Year: Electricity Minister Kgosientsho Ramokgopa impresses by being able to keep lights on

But the main reason for my choice is the manner in which Ramaphosa acted in the hours and days after the elections earlier this year.

He did not just accept the outcome, thus forcing his party to accept it. He also set the tone for what was to come and asked all other parties to do the same.

In one single political action, Ramaphosa forced...