Cyril Ramaphosa, who was elected leader of South Africa’s ANC on Monday, faces many challenges. As he will almost certainly become president of South Africa after polls scheduled in 2019, the problems extend well beyond the rehabilitation of a divided and increasingly unpopular party.

Twenty-three years after the end of the racist, repressive apartheid regime, South Africa remains a country with enormous resources and great wealth but also massive inequality and deep poverty.

Though successive ANC governments have made huge efforts to build homes and supply basic services to millions of people, they have been unable to meet expectations. Many people live without electricity or sanitation. Schooling and healthcare are often rudimentary. Levels of violent crime are among the highest in the world, with the poor suffering most.

Profile Who is Cyril Ramaphosa? Show Early life Ramaphosa was born in Soweto, a township near Johannesburg and the centre of the anti-apartheid struggle, in 1952. He became involved in activism to end the apartheid system while studying at university and was arrested in 1974, spending 11 months in solitary confinement. End of apartheid After graduating, he co-founded the National Union of Mineworkers, which is now one of the biggest and most powerful trade unions in South Africa. Ramaphosa was a key part of a taskforce that led South Africa's transition to democracy and is credited with being a skilled negotiator. Despite Nelson Mandela describing him as one of the most gifted leaders of the "new generation", Ramaphosa failed to get the ANC nomination to succeed Mandela as president in 1999. Buinessman After that blow, Ramaphosa swapped politics for a lucrative foray into business, using his union connections and becoming one of the richest men in the country. His popularity took a knock in 2012 when police shot dead 34 striking workers at a mine operated by London-listed Lonmin. At the time of the killings, Ramaphosa was on the board of directors and had called for a crackdown on the strikers, whom he accused of "dastardly criminal" behaviour. Return to politics In 2012 Ramaphosa returned to politics and two years later he became South Africa's deputy president. Despite being part of Zuma's administration, he is seen as a reformer who will steer the country away from the corruption scandals that have hurt the economy. Photograph: Cornell Tukiri/EPA

Perhaps the most significant problem is unemployment, particularly among young people. Economic growth has been limited in recent years, with a technical recession this year, and job creation is slow. Investors have been scared away by political instability.



Then there is corruption – from the police officer demanding cash to ignore a minor driving offence, to the massive sums mentioned in investigations into allegations of graft involving senior public figures.

Corruption has not just undermined public finances but also public confidence in the state. South Africa still has many strong institutions, particularly the judiciary, but there is limited faith in public prosecutors or the police.

The ANC cannot rely on its extraordinary history and the reputations of the giants who led the anti-apartheid struggle for much longer. A younger generation of politicians is pushing through, and they cannot counter accusations of incompetence or wrongdoing by appealing to the efforts made by their forebears to build a multiracial democracy against such odds.

There is impatience and anger. But the first task for Ramaphosa will be to unite the ANC after a bruising, acrimonious leadership campaign and prepare the party to fight the 2019 elections. The aim will be to limit losses and avoid being forced into a coalition government.

Analysts have repeatedly described the ANC’s choice as a turning point for the country, not just the party. That choice has been made. Now 54 million South Africans will be watching Ramaphosa’s every pronouncement to know whether the future will bring new hope or disappointment.