Cyril Ramaphosa has been sworn in as the new President of South Africa hours after his predecessor Jacob Zuma was forced to resign.
Ramaphosa took the oath of office in Cape Town following his election in parliament earlier in the day.
The former trade union official said fighting corruption and mismanagement of public services would be his administration’s top priorities.
One of the first things he pledged to do was meet with other political party leaders “so we can try and find a way of working together”.
Most of the 400 National Assembly members approved his nomination.
MPs broke into song as Mr Ramaphosa rose to his feet and the new role was confirmed.
“I’m trying to adapt to the environment – I’m not used to it,” the chief justice said with a smile, afterwards.
“In a court of law no singing is allowed.”
In his speech, Mr Ramaphosa said he felt “truly humbled to have been given this great privilege of being able to serve our people”.
“South Africa must come first in everything that we all do,” he told MPs.
Mr Ramaphosa’s election marks an end to the nine-year rule of Mr Zuma, who resigned on Wednesday after a bitter row with his own party about the timetable for his departure.
