Thabo Mbeki: Bio
Former South African president Thabo Mbeki is often identified as an independent and original thinker. His profile as a policy shaper and mediator in the African National Congress (ANC) has been built up over a lifetime of involvement. "I was born into the struggle," he says. His birth took place in Idutywa, Transkei, on the 18th of June, 1942.
Both his parents were teachers and activists. His father was a university graduate and there were many books in his home which Mbeki read at an early age. Govan Mbeki was a leading figure in ANC activities in the Eastern Cape. Believing that sooner or later they would be arrested, Mbeki's parents decided that family and friends would also be responsible for bringing up the children. Mbeki therefore spent long periods away from home.
He joined the ANC Youth League at 14 and quickly became active in student politics. After his schooling at the Lovedale Missionary Institute was interrupted by a strike in 1959, he completed his school studies at home. Thereafter he moved to Johannesburg where he came under the guidance of ANC heavyweights Walter Sisulu and Duma Nokwe.
While studying for his British A-levels he was elected secretary of the African Students' Association (ASA). He went on to study economics as a correspondence student with London University. The ASA collapsed following the arrest of many of its members, at a time when political movements were coming under increasingly severe attack from the state. Mbeki's father was arrested at Rivonia and sentenced to life imprisonment.
Thabo Mbeki left South Africa in 1962 under orders from the ANC. From Tanzania he moved to Britain where he completed a Masters degree in economics at Sussex University in 1966. Remaining active in student politics, he played a prominent role in building the youth and student sections of the ANC in exile.
Following his studies he worked at the ANC's London office with the late Oliver Tambo and Yusuf Dadoo before being sent to the Soviet Union in 1970 for military training. Later that year he arrived in Lusaka, Zambia, where he was soon appointed assistant secretary of the ANC's Revolutionary Council. In 1973-74 he was in Botswana holding discussions with the Botswana government about opening an ANC office there. In 1975 he was acting ANC representative in Swaziland. Appointed to the ANC's National Executive Council in 1975, he served as ANC representative to Nigeria until 1978.
On his return to Lusaka Mbeki became political secretary in the office of Oliver Tambo, and then the ANC's director of information. From this position he played a major role in turning the international media against apartheid. Mbeki's other role in the '70s was in building the ANC in Swaziland and underground structures for the ANC inside South Africa.
During the '80s Mbeki rose to head the ANC's department of information and publicity and co-ordinated diplomatic campaigns to involve more white South Africans in anti-apartheid activities. When delegations of sports, business and cultural representatives visited Lusaka for talks they all expressed surprise to meet a man deeply engaged in the issues they brought to the table.
From 1989 Mbeki headed the ANC Department of International Affairs, and was a key figure in the ANC's negotiations with the former government.
Mbeki was hand-picked by Nelson Mandela after the April 1994 general election to be the first Deputy President of South Africa's new Government of National Unity.
At the ANC's 50th Conference at Mafikeng, from 16-20 1997, Thabo Mbeki was elected as the new President of the African National Congress.
Thabo Mbeki was elected President of South Africa on 14 June 1999 and was inaugurated as President on 16 June 1999.
He resigned as President of South Africa on 24 September 2008.