Thabo Mvuyelwa Mbeki is a South African politician who served as the 2nd democratic president of South Africa from 14 June 1999 to 24 September 2008, when he resigned at the request of his party, the African National Congress (ANC). Before that, he was deputy president under Nelson Mandela from 1994 to 1999.
Govan Archibald Mvunyelwa Mbeki was a South African politician, military commander, Communist leader who served as the Secretary of Umkhonto we Sizwe, at its inception in 1961. He was also the son of Chief Sikelewu Mbeki and Johanna Mahala and also the father of the former South African president Thabo Mbeki and political economist Moeletsi Mbeki. He was a leader of the South African Communist Party and the African National Congress. After the Rivonia Trial, he was imprisoned (1963–1987) on charges of terrorism and treason, together with Nelson Mandela, Walter Sisulu, Raymond Mhlaba, Ahmed Kathrada and other eminent ANC leaders, for their role in the ANC's armed wing, Umkhonto we Sizwe (MK). He was sometimes mentioned by his nickname "Oom Gov".
Oliver Reginald Kaizana Tambo was a South African anti-apartheid politician and activist who served as President of the African National Congress (ANC) from 1967 to 1991.
Mosiuoa Gerard Patrick Lekota is a South African anti-Apartheid revolutionary for the African National Congress (ANC) who served jail time with Nelson Mandela from 1985 and who left the ANC to form the Congress of the People (Cope) splinter party in 2008. He has served as its President since 16 December 2008.
Angela Thokozile Didiza is a South African politician serving as Speaker of the National Assembly since 14 June 2024. A member of the African National Congress (ANC), she was formerly the Minister of Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development between May 2019 and June 2024. She served an earlier stint in the cabinet between 1999 and 2008.
Kgalema Petrus Motlanthe is a South African politician who served as the 3rd president of South Africa from 25 September 2008 to 9 May 2009, following the resignation of Thabo Mbeki. Thereafter, he was deputy president under Jacob Zuma from 9 May 2009 to 26 May 2014.
Geraldine Joslyn Fraser-Moleketi is a South African politician who was the Minister of Public Service and Administration from June 1999 to September 2008. Before that, from July 1996 to June 1999, she was Minister of Welfare and Population Development. She represented the African National Congress (ANC) in the National Assembly from 1994 to 2008 and is a former deputy chairperson of the South African Communist Party (SACP).
Jacob "Jackie" Sello Selebi was the National Commissioner of the South African Police Service from January 2000 to January 2008, when he was put on extended leave and charged with corruption. He was also a former President of African National Congress Youth League, South African ambassador to the United Nations from 1995 to 1998, and President of Interpol from 2004 to 2008. Selebi was found guilty of corruption on 2 July 2010 and sentenced to 15 years' imprisonment on 3 August 2010. However, he was released on medical parole in July 2012, after serving less than a year of his sentence, and lived at home until his death on 23 January 2015.
Essop Goolam Pahad was a South African politician. He served as the Minister in the Presidency from 1999 to 2008, and was a close ally of Thabo Mbeki.
South Africa since 1994 transitioned from the system of apartheid to one of majority rule. The election of 1994 resulted in a change in government with the African National Congress (ANC) coming to power. The ANC retained power after subsequent elections in 1999, 2004, 2009, 2014, and 2019. Children born during this period are known as the born-free generation, and those aged eighteen or older, were able to vote for the first time in 2014.
The 52nd National Conference of the African National Congress (ANC) was held in Polokwane, Limpopo, from 16 to 20 December 2007. At the conference, Jacob Zuma and his supporters were elected to the party's top leadership and National Executive Committee (NEC), dealing a significant defeat to national President Thabo Mbeki, who had sought a third term in the ANC presidency. The conference was a precursor to the general election of 2009, which the ANC was extremely likely to win and which did indeed lead to Zuma's ascension to the presidency of South Africa. Mbeki was prohibited from serving a third term as national President but, if re-elected ANC President, could likely have leveraged that office to select his successor.
The 51st National Conference of the African National Congress (ANC) was held at the University of Stellenbosch in Stellenbosch, Western Cape, from 16 to 20 December 2002, during the ANC's 90th anniversary. President Thabo Mbeki was re-elected to the party presidency and, notably, there was no change in other five top leadership positions except for Deputy Secretary General. There was also little competition for other spots on the National Executive Committee (NEC). This ANC conference has thus been called "the quietest in its history."
Ronald Suresh Roberts is a British West Indian biographer, lawyer and writer. He is best known for his biographies of some of the leading figures in the "New South Africa" such as Nobel Prize winner Nadine Gordimer and former South African President Thabo Mbeki. Roberts has been described by Nelson Mandela as "a remarkable and dynamic young man". He currently lives in London, England.
An indirect presidential election was held in South Africa on 25 September 2008 following the resignation of the President Thabo Mbeki. The ruling party, the African National Congress (ANC), with a two-thirds majority in the National Assembly of South Africa, elected Kgalema Motlanthe as president. The ANC indicated that Motlanthe would be a "caretaker" president until the 2009 election, after which ANC president Jacob Zuma would take office.
The Congress of the People (COPE) is a South African political party formed in 2008 by former members of the African National Congress (ANC). The party was founded by former ANC members Mosiuoa Lekota, Mbhazima Shilowa and Mluleki George to contest the 2009 general election. The party was announced following a national convention held in Sandton on 1 November 2008, and was founded at a congress held in Bloemfontein on 16 December 2008. The name echoes the 1955 Congress of the People at which the Freedom Charter was adopted by the ANC and other parties, a name strongly contested by the ANC in a legal move dismissed by the Pretoria High Court.
Vusumzi "Vusi" Pikoli is a South African advocate and the former head of South Africa's National Prosecuting Authority. He is noted for instigating criminal charges against disgraced South African police commissioner Jackie Selebi and ANC president Jacob Zuma. In 2008 he was suspended from his duties by President Thabo Mbeki, a close confidant of Selebi, and then subsequently fired by Mbeki's successor, Kgalema Motlanthe, who is an ally of Zuma. As such, opposition parties and sections of the press have claimed Pikoli is the victim of two separate political conspiracies. In October 2014 Pikoli was appointed as the Western Cape's first police ombudsman by Premier Helen Zille, whose choice was unanimously backed by the provincial legislature's standing committee on community safety.
Botswana–South Africa relations refers to the historical and current relationship of Botswana and South Africa. Botswana has a high commission in Pretoria, and South Africa has a high commission in Gaborone. Both countries are former British colonies and members of the African Union, the Commonwealth of Nations, and the Southern African Development Community (SADC).
South Africa–Zimbabwe relations have been generally cordial since the end of apartheid in South Africa, although there have been tensions due to political troubles in Zimbabwe in recent years.
Pregaluxmi "Pregs" Govender is a South African human rights activist, author, and politician.
Fit to Govern: The native intelligence of Thabo Mbeki is a 2007 biography of Former South African President Thabo Mbeki by British West Indian writer Ronald Suresh Roberts.
