Thabo Mvuyelwa Mbeki is a South African politician who was the second 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 between 1994 and 1999.
The son of Govan Mbeki, a renowned ANC intellectual, Mbeki has been involved in ANC politics since 1956, when he joined the ANC Youth League, and has been a member of the party's National Executive Committee since 1975. Born in the Transkei, he left South Africa aged twenty to attend university in England, and spent almost three decades in exile abroad, until the ANC was unbanned in 1990. He rose through the organisation in its information and publicity section and as Oliver Tambo's protégé, but he was also an experienced diplomat, serving as the ANC's official representative in several of its African outposts. He was an early advocate for and leader of the diplomatic engagements which led to the negotiations to end apartheid. After South Africa's first democratic elections in 1994, he was appointed national deputy president. In subsequent years, it became apparent that he was Mandela's chosen successor, and he was elected unopposed as ANC president in 1997, enabling his rise to the presidency as the ANC's candidate in the 1999 elections.
While deputy president, Mbeki had been regarded as a steward of the government's Growth, Employment and Redistribution policy, introduced in 1996, and as president he continued to subscribe to relatively conservative, market-friendly macroeconomic policies. During his presidency, South Africa experienced falling public debt, a narrowing budget deficit, and consistent, moderate economic growth. However, despite his retention of various social democratic programmes, and notable expansions to the black economic empowerment programme, critics often regarded Mbeki's economic policies as neoliberal, with insufficient consideration for developmental and redistributive objectives. On these grounds, Mbeki grew increasingly alienated from the left wing of the ANC, and from the leaders of the ANC's Tripartite Alliance partners, the Congress of South African Trade Unions and South African Communist Party. It was these leftist elements which supported Jacob Zuma over Mbeki in the political rivalry that erupted after Mbeki removed the latter from his post as deputy president in 2005.
As president, Mbeki had an apparent predilection for foreign policy and particularly for multilateralism. His Pan-Africanism and vision for an "African renaissance" are central parts of his political persona, and commentators suggest that he secured for South Africa a role in African and global politics that was disproportionate to the country's size and historical influence. He was the central architect of the New Partnership for Africa's Development and, as the inaugural chairperson of the African Union, spearheaded the introduction of the African Peer Review Mechanism. After the IBSA Dialogue Forum was launched in 2003, his government collaborated with India and Brazil to lobby for reforms at the United Nations, advocating for a stronger role for developing countries. Among South Africa's various peacekeeping commitments during his presidency, Mbeki was the primary mediator in the conflict between ZANU-PF and the Zimbabwean opposition in the 2000s. However, he was frequently criticised for his policy of "quiet diplomacy" in Zimbabwe, under which he refused to condemn Robert Mugabe's regime or institute sanctions against it.
Also highly controversial worldwide was Mbeki's HIV/AIDS policy. His government did not introduce a national mother-to-child transmission prevention programme until 2002, when it was mandated by the Constitutional Court, nor did it make antiretroviral therapy available in the public healthcare system until late 2003. Subsequent studies have estimated that these delays caused hundreds of thousands of preventable deaths. Mbeki himself, like his Health Minister Manto Tshabalala-Msimang, has been described as an AIDS denialist, "dissident," or sceptic. Although he did not explicitly deny the causal link between HIV and AIDS, he often posited a need to investigate alternate causes of and alternative treatments for AIDS, frequently suggesting that immunodeficiency was the indirect result of poverty.
His political descent began at the ANC's Polokwane conference in December 2007, when he was replaced as ANC president by Zuma. His term as national president was not due to expire until June 2009, but, on 20 September 2008, he announced that he would resign at the request of the ANC National Executive Committee. The ANC's decision to "recall" Mbeki was understood to be linked to a high court judgement, handed down earlier that month, in which judge Chris Nicholson had alleged improper political interference in the National Prosecuting Authority and specifically in the corruption charges against Zuma. Nicholson's judgement was overturned by the Supreme Court of Appeal in January 2009, by which time Mbeki had been replaced as president by Kgalema Motlanthe.
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Some of their strengths
Thabo Mbeki has many admirable traits.
Based on spiritual traditions from around the world, they are someone who can be described as Energetic, Confident, Organized, Passionate, Communicative, Optimistic, and Emotionally Intelligent.
Charming and Quick-witted
According to Mysticism’s Astrology tradition, Thabo Mbeki is someone who is a charming, quick-witted, and energetic person who combines passion and intelligence with an ability to feel what others are feeling and to effectively communicate with them. A person who is ambitious and motivated.
Adventurous and Free
Based on Daoism’s Ba-Zi or ‘Chinese Zodiac’ tradition, people who know Thabo Mbeki well know them as someone who can be talented, wayward and free, like a big river or the ocean.
Independent and Organized
According to Hinduism’s Jyotisha or ‘Vedic Astrology’ tradition, many would also describe Thabo Mbeki as someone who is independent, organized, inventive, and generous.
A person who is curious and a loves learning, who seems to always know what to say, who has an optimism that can overcome any difficult situation, and who seems to be able to master almost any skill.
Emotionally Intelligent and Intuitive
Based on the Mayan Tzolk’in or ‘Mayan Astrology’ tradition, Thabo Mbeki is someone who tends to have strong emotional intelligence and intuition, and who can be a catalyst of change for others.
They are also someone who is active, giving, optimistic, and cheerful, and who possesses a charisma that attracts friends and admirers.
Logical and Reasonable
According to Judaism’s Kabbalah tradition, Thabo Mbeki tends to be someone who is understanding, logical, and reasonable. Who can be intellectual and intuitive, speak the truth at any cost, be witty and sociable, and live life to its fullest.
Some of Thabo Mbeki's challenges
While Thabo Mbeki has many strengths, nobody is perfect. They also have some challenging traits they need to manage.
For example, Thabo Mbeki can be Perfectionist, Hypocritical, Self-centered, Arrogant, Status-seeking, Difficult, and Domineering.
Hypocritical and Self-centered
One of Thabo Mbeki's key challenges is that they are someone who can be perceived as hypocritical and self-centered.
Domineering and Impatient
Thabo Mbeki is someone who can be demanding, egotistical, and controlling, can have a lack of judgment regarding personal finances, be argumentative and stubborn, and who can have a tendency to be withdrawn and spend time in self-imposed isolation.
Indecisive and Distracted
Finally, Thabo Mbeki also can have a hard time staying focused and can easily become restless.
