Anti-apartheid activist, trade unionist, multi-millionaire and now president - the multifaceted Cyril Ramaphosa carries the hopes of many South Africans on his shoulders.
Ramaphosa, 65, replaced scandal-tainted Jacob Zuma at the country's helm on Thursday, after Zuma reluctantly resigned having lost the backing of his party following a plethora of scandals.
The new president has an uphill task ahead of him, to unite a fractured African National Congress (ANC) and win back disillusioned urban voters who have turned to opposition parties in recent years.
Born in Johannesburg's sprawling Soweto township in 1952, Ramaphosa became politically active while studying law and was detained and held in solitary confinement by the apartheid regime.
He was instrumental in the founding of the powerful Congress of South African Trade Unions and, as secretary general of the ANC in the early 1990s, was part of the team that negotiated the end of apartheid and drafted South Africa's new progressive constitution.
He was known to have been liberation hero and first post-apartheid president Nelson Mandela's favoured successor, though the post ultimately went to Thabo Mbeki.
Ramaphosa focused on his business ventures, including bringing the McDonald's franchise to South Africa, with Forbes magazine in 2015 estimating him to be worth more than $US450 million ($A630 million).
Ramaphosa is a major supporter of Black Economic Empowerment, a system introduced by the government after apartheid to redress the wrongs of the past and foster black participation in the business sector.
He had been Zuma's deputy since 2014 with some critics saying he did not speak out enough.
Just before police killed 34 striking mine workers in what become known as the Marikana massacre in 2012, Ramaphosa, who was a non-executive member of mining company Lonmin at the time, sent emails to the company and government officials calling for action to be taken against "these criminals".
A less serious mark against the millionaire, but one that let flow a cascade of media criticism, was his extravagant purchase in 2012 of a prize buffalo for a reported 18 million rand ($A1.9 million).
He is still referred to as "The Buffalo" or "McBuffalo", the latter because of his ties to the fast-food chain - a tongue-in-cheek reference to just how elite Ramaphosa is.
Last year Ramaphosa narrowly beat Zuma's ex-wife Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma to become ANC president.
Australian Associated Press
