Cyril Ramaphosa, President of South Africa, is leading a delegation of African leaders to engage in diplomatic discussions with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy. Additionally, he has a scheduled meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin in St Petersburg on Saturday. For those who may be unfamiliar with him, here’s a brief overview of Cyril Ramaphosa.
Matamela Cyril Ramaphosa, a South African entrepreneur and statesman, is currently serving as the fifth democratically elected president of South Africa. She is 70 years old.
Before his political career, he was an anti-apartheid activist, a trade union leader, and a successful businessman. Furthermore, Ramaphosa is the president of the African National Congress (ANC), a prominent political party in South Africa.
Ramaphosa belongs to the Venda community, a Southern African Bantu people primarily residing near the border of South Africa and Zimbabwe.
Known for his commitment to socialism, Ramaphosa made a public declaration in May 2018 in which he pledged to donate half of his salary, amounting to R3.6 million annually, to charitable causes in honor of the late former South African president, Nelson Mandela. He intended to set an example for the wealthy by encouraging them to contribute a portion of their earnings to the nation-building efforts.
His personal life has garnered significant media attention. In August 2017, an article published by the Sunday Independent alleged that Ramaphosa had been involved in several extramarital affairs and had provided financial support to some of the women involved. However, Ramaphosa vehemently denied these allegations, attributing them to political motives aimed at derailing his presidential campaign.
Ramaphosa has been married multiple times. His first marriage was to Hope Ramaphosa from 1978 to 1989, with whom he has a son. He later married the late businesswoman Nomazizi Mtshotshisa from 1991 to 1993. In 1996, he tied the knot with Tshepo Motsepe, a medical doctor and the sister of South African mining billionaire Patrice Motsepe. Ramaphosa is believed to have five children in total.
The South African president owns a lavish mansion situated at the base of Lion’s Head in Cape Town, in addition to 30 other properties. In 2018, his net worth was estimated at R6.4 billion ($450 million) by Investing.com.
Ramaphosa is a skilled polyglot and often incorporates various South African languages into his speeches, showcasing his linguistic abilities.