A beaming President Cyril Ramaphosa has thanked South Africans for their birthday wishes in a Twitter video filmed in Ethiopia over the weekend.

"It feels good to be given so many well-wishing messages by all the people of South Africa," said Ramaphosa in expressing his gratitude for the greetings received on his 66th birthday on Saturday.

A relaxed Ramaphosa, in a red tie, is seen in the video seated on a couch with a South African flag behind him.

He smiles broadly as he recounts how South Africans' warm words to him "have made me have a most fantastic birthday".

Ramaphosa also explains that he is currently in Addis Ababa for the African Union Summit.

"I would have preferred to be at home near all our people in South Africa – but here I am," he declares before proffering his thanks.

Meanwhile, back home, Ramaphosa's campaign team announced on Saturday that it would pay back the R500 000 Bosasa donation that was given to his 2017 ANC presidential campaign.

This after he backtracked on a response he gave before the National Assembly over the payment from Bosasa CEO Gavin Watson, allegedly for the benefit of his son, Andile.

The October 2017 payment was actually a donation towards his ANC presidential campaign which Ramaphosa states was made without his knowledge.

In a statement on Saturday, his campaign team said Ramaphosa was not involved in fundraising efforts. They said he also didn't have a record of donors, although he was asked on occasion to attend dinners with potential donors.

Ramaphosa did not mention this in his birthday message.

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