Matamela Cyril Ramaphosa (born 17 November 1952) is a South Africa

South Africa

The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...

n lawyer, trade union

Trade union

A trade union, trades union or labor union is an organization of workers that have banded together to achieve common goals such as better working conditions. The trade union, through its leadership, bargains with the employer on behalf of union members and negotiates labour contracts with...

 leader, activist, politician and businessman. He was born in Soweto

Soweto

Soweto is a lower-class-populated urban area of the city of Johannesburg in Gauteng, South Africa, bordering the city's mining belt in the south. Its name is an English syllabic abbreviation for South Western Townships...

, Gauteng province. While Ramaphosa was previously a major figure in South African national politics, he has in recent years become a prominent figure in the business community.

Widely respected as a skilful and formidable negotiator and strategist, Ramaphosa is best known for building up the biggest and most powerful trade union in South Africa — the National Union of Mineworkers

National Union of Mineworkers (South Africa)

-External links:* official site....

 (NUM) — as well as for the crucial role he played, with Roelf Meyer

Roelf Meyer

Roelof Petrus Meyer, born in Port Elizabeth on 16 July 1947 as the son of a farmer, is a South African politician and businessman.After completing school in Ficksburg, he studied law at the University of the Free State and finished with B Comm and LLB degrees. At the university, he was president...

 of the National Party

National Party (South Africa)

The National Party is a former political party in South Africa. Founded in 1914, it was the governing party of the country from 4 June 1948 until 9 May 1994. Members of the National Party were sometimes known as Nationalists or Nats. Its policies included apartheid, the establishment of a...

, during the negotiations to bring about a peaceful end to apartheid and steer the country towards its first democratic elections in April 1994.

He is married to Dr.