Cyril Ramaphosa (English: Matamela Cyril Ramaphosa, born November 17, 1952, South Africa) is a South African politician and the fifth President of South Africa. He became President after the resignation of Jacob Zuma. Cyril Ramaphosa, an anti-apartheid activist, trade union leader, businessman and partly communist, previously served as Vice President of South Africa from 2014 to 2018. He came to India as the chief guest on the occasion of Indian Republic Day in 2019.
Cyril Ramaphosa is the former Chairman of the National Planning Commission, which is responsible for strategic planning for the future of South Africa, aiming at a common set of objectives and priorities to drive development in South Africa over the long term.
In August 1982, CUSA resolved to form the ‘National Union of Mineworkers’. Cyril Ramaphosa became its first secretary in December.
Cyril Ramaphosa was the organizer of the conference leading to the formation of the Congress of the South African Trade Unions. He gave a keynote address at Cosatu’s launch rally in Durban in December 1985. In March 1986 he was part of the Cosatu delegation that met the African National Congress in Lusaka, Zambia. Ramaphosa was elected as the first general secretary of the union.
Cyril Ramaphosa came as the chief guest on the occasion of India’s Republic Day (January 26, 2019). He was accompanied to India by his wife Dr Tshepo Mosepe, a high-level delegation including nine ministers, senior officials and a 50-member business delegation.