South Africa's parliament has elected Jacob Zuma as president.

This marks the meteoric rise of a self-educated man who transformed himself from a teenage goat herder into the leader of Africa's economic powerhouse.

South African President elect Jacob Zuma gives a speech after the swearing in of members of Parliament in Cape Town, South Africa, Wednesday, May 6, 2009. [Gianluigi Guercia, Pool/AP Photo]

In his address to parliament, the 67-year-old Zuma said that his immediate priority was to limit the fallout from the global economic crisis.

He also promised to speed up progress in education, health and land reform, fight harder against crime, create more jobs and improve the lives of South Africans.

Zuma will be inaugurated on Saturday, and is due to name his government a day later.

His African National Congress party won elections last month, with more than sixty-five percent of the vote. This result gave his party 264 seats in the 400 member National Assembly.

(CCTV May 7, 2009)