Ramaphosa: From Activism To Business, And Then To Power

Over the course of his 66 years, Cyril Ramaphosa has experienced the poverty of Soweto, jail for fighting apartheid, trade union activism, fabulous wealth and now elected leadership of his country

Johannesburg, (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 22nd May, 2019 ) :Over the course of his 66 years, Cyril Ramaphosa has experienced the poverty of Soweto, jail for fighting apartheid, trade union activism, fabulous wealth and now elected leadership of his country.

Ramaphosa, who became president last year through internal ANC politics, won a popular mandate in elections on May 8, opening the latest chapter of a career intertwined with the birth of modern South Africa.

On Wednesday he was chosen as national president by lawmakers after the African National Congress party, which he leads, won 230 out of 400 seats in parliament in the national election.

When Nelson Mandela walked out of jail in 1990, a youthful Ramaphosa was standing beside him as the world looked on.

It soon became clear that Mandela saw him as a protege, and Ramaphosa went on to lead talks to end white-minority rule and to help write the new constitution.

But after missing out on becoming Mandela's successor as president, he instead became a hugely wealthy businessman through stakes in McDonalds, Coca-Cola and in the mining and telecommunications sectors.

In 2012, his image was badly tarnished when police killed 34 striking workers at the Marikana platinum mine, operated by London-listed Lonmin, where he was then a non-executive director.

Ramaphosa had called for a crackdown on the strikers, whom he accused of "dastardly criminal" behaviour.

He returned to politics to become Jacob Zuma's vice president in 2014, often drawing criticism for failing to speak out against corruption and government mismanagement.

Renowned for his patience and strategic thinking, Ramaphosa narrowly beat off pro-Zuma rivals to take over the leadership of the ANC in 2017 and then claim the presidency when Zuma was forced out last year.

Ramaphosa, who is relaxed and quietly spoken in public, enjoys a broad support base that crosses some of South Africa's sharp racial and class divides.

But he still faces strong opposition from factions within the ANC, and his renowned guile and backroom skills will be needed in the years ahead.

"We have made mistakes but we have been sorry about those mistakes and we are saying our people should reinvest their confidence in us," Ramaphosa said when he voted, delivering a rebuke to the Zuma era of ANC government.