Deputy president defeats Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma in vote that could determine country’s trajectory for decades.

Cyril Ramaphosa, an anti-apartheid activist turned tycoon and politician, has been chosen by the African National Congress as its leader for the next five years.

The battle to lead South Africa’s ruling party, which has been in power for 23 years but has been hit by declining support and a series of scandals, remained on a knife edge to the last minute.

Almost 5,000 delegates voted in an internal party election at a conference centre in Johannesburg.

Ramaphosa won with 2,440 votes to 2,261 for his rival Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma.