Ramaphosa, Cyril (1952-…), became president of South Africa in February 2018. He succeeded Jacob Zuma, who resigned. Ramaphosa has been the leader of the African National Congress (ANC), a South African political party, since December 2017.
Matamela Cyril Ramaphosa was born in Johannesburg, South Africa, on Nov. 17, 1952. He became active in politics while studying law at the University of the North (now part of the University of Limpopo). In 1974, he became chairman of the South African Students’ Organization (SASO). Between 1974 and 1976, he was twice jailed without trial under South Africa’s Terrorism Act for a total of 17 months.
In 1981, Ramaphosa joined the legal department of the Council of Unions of South Africa. In 1982, he became general secretary of the South African National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) and later helped set up the Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU). In 1987, Ramaphosa led the NUM in a massive three-week strike. In the same year, Sweden awarded him the Olof Palme Memorial Prize. From 1991 to 1996, Ramaphosa headed the ANC delegation in negotiations with the South African government and other political groups over the drafting of a new South African constitution.
Ramaphosa temporarily left politics in the mid-1990’s to become a full-time businessman. He later returned to politics. He served as South Africa’s deputy president from 2014 until becoming president in 2018. After elections held in May 2019, South Africa’s National Assembly chose Ramaphosa to continue as president.
In elections in May 2024, the ANC lost its majority in the National Assembly for the first time since it came to power in 1994. However, it still won more seats in the Assembly than any other party. Ramaphosa formed a coalition government with the Democratic Alliance party. The Assembly then reelected him as president of South Africa.
