A son of Soweto SA's president
 
Matamela Cyril Ramaphosa was born in Johannesburg on 17 November 1952. He is the second of three children. His father was a retired policeman. He grew up in Soweto, attending a local primary school and Sekano-Ntoane High School. In 1971 he matriculated from Mphaphuli High School in Sibasa, Limpopo.
 
In 1972 he registered at the University of the North (Turfloop) for a B Proc degree. He became involved in student politics and joined the South African Students Organization (SASO) in 1972, serving as chairman in 1974. In the same year, he was chairman of the Student Christian Movement. After the pro-Frelimo rally at the University in 1974, Ramaphosa was detained for 11 months under section 6 of the Terrorism Act. On his release he joined the Black People's Convention (BPC). He obtained his articles with a Johannesburg firm of attorneys.
 
In June 1976, following the unrest in Soweto, Ramaphosa was again detained under Terrorism Act for six months. On his release he continued with his articles and completed his B Proc degree through Unisa in 1981. He completed his articles in the same year, and joined the Council of Unions of South Africa (CUSA) as an advisor in the legal department.
 
In August 1982, CUSA formed the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) and in December Ramaphosa became its first secretary. He was involved in the formation of the Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU) and in March 1986 he joined a delegation to meet the African National Congress (ANC) in Lusaka, Zambia.
 
In January 1990, he accompanied released ANC political prisoners to Lusaka to serve as chairman of the National Reception committee, which co-ordinated arrangements for the release of Nelson Mandela. He was elected General-Secretary of the ANC in a conference held in Durban in July 1991. Ramaphosa was a visiting Professor of Law at Stanford University in the United States of America in October 1991.
 
As General-Secretary he became the head of the negotiations commissions of the ANC and participated in the Convention for a Democratic South Africa (CODESA).
 
His directorships include South African Breweries, First Rand Limited, Macsteel Holdings, Alexander Forbes and Medscheme Limited. In August 2012, Lonmin, a mining company he was a non-executive board member of, dealt with an unlawful strike, which ended with 34 casualties. In December of the same year he was elected ANC deputy president. On 3 February 2013 he resigned from his position at Lonmin. In 2015, a commission of inquiry cleared Ramaphosa of any responsibility.
 
Former president Jacob Zuma appointed him as Deputy President of the State in 2014 after being elected Deputy President of the ANC in 2012. In September 2017, he headed the unsuccessful South African bid for the 2023 Rugby World Cup in London.
 
On 18 December 2017 he was elected as president of the ANC. Shortly after, senior members of the ANC agreed to recall Zuma from his position, who initially refused, but eventually resigned on 14 February 2018. A parliamentary vote the next day made his presidency official. Ramaphosa and his wife, Dr Tshepo Motsepe, have four children.
 
Source: South African History Online (SAHO)