Cycril Ramaphosa’s latest book focuses on his “proudest achievement”.

No, no, it’s not his notable ownership of companies such as McDonald’s South Africa, or sitting on the board for the likes of MTN and Lonmin. Neither is it about the fact that he’s the deputy president of South Africa.

No, the book, titled “Cattle of the Ages – Ankole cattle in South Africa” is about cows and, unless you have read Farmer’s Weekly, you might not know about Ramaphosa’s interest:

It all began back in 2004 when he visited Uganda and developed an interest in the long-horned Ankole breed, reports HuffPost.

“I was intrigued and in awe and fell in love with these creatures immediately. President Museveni and I exchanged a few pleasantries, but I couldn’t help myself. ‘Please,’ I said. ‘You must tell me about these cattle. They are simply beautiful,​​​'” Ramaphosa writes.

He was unable to bring them to South Africa, as the government denied him permission due to inadequate disease control measures in Uganda, so he took them to Kenya.

From there, the cows were artificially inseminated, the embryos removed and shipped to South Africa, and transferred to quarantine for two months:

Ten years after the first Ankole was born on South African soil, Ramaphosa is now one of the continent’s biggest breeders.

“Ankole meat is excellent,” he writes, “and their milk very rich.”

As of August this year, Ramaphosa had 100 Ankole breeding at his Ntaba Nyoni farm in Mpumalanga:

“Like many of the men of my father’s generation, he had no choice but to go to the city of Johannesburg to find work. His traditions, his wealth and his very identity were left behind, and whatever wealth he had built up would later be eroded.”

“I am sure my late cattle-loving father would have been proud to see that I have become a cattle breeder.”

Littered throughout the book are the familiar, breathtaking images captured by famous livestock photographer Daniel Naude.

Already armed with a stockpile from his own book, titled “Sightings Of The Sacred: Cattle In Uganda, Madagascar and India”, here are a selection of the beautiful beasts:

How flipping majestic?

[source:huffingtonpost]