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| Affiliation | African National Congress |
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| Name | Thabo Mbeki |
| Address |
, , South Africa |
| Email | None |
| Website | None |
| Born |
June 18, 1942
(81 years)
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| Contributor | The Oncoming Storm |
| Last Modifed | Patrick
Jul 15, 2007 11:51am |
| Tags |
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| Info | Thabo Mvuyelwa Mbeki is the President of the Republic of South Africa.
Born in the Transkei region of South Africa, Mbeki is the son of Govan Mbeki (1910 - 2001), a stalwart of the African National Congress (ANC) and the South African Communist Party. Mbeki has a Master of Economics degree from the University of Sussex.
Mbeki joined the African National Congress at the age of 14, representing it abroad from 1967. Appointed head of the ANC's information department in 1984 and of its international department in 1989, he became a deputy president of South Africa in May 1994 on the attainment of majority rule, and sole deputy-president in June 1996. He succeeded Nelson Mandela as ANC president in December 1997 and as president of the Republic in June 1999.
Mbeki has played the leading role in the formation of NEPAD and the African Union, and played influential roles in brokering peace deals in Rwanda, Burundi and the Democratic Republic of Congo. He has also tried to popularise the concept of an African Renaissance.
Mbeki has also played a leading role in attempting to restore dialogue between Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe and the opposition MDC, although he has faced heavy criticism for his policy of 'quiet diplomacy', and opposing Mugabe's recent suspension from the Commonwealth.
Mbeki has also been heavily criticised both domestically and internationally for his views on the causes and treatment of AIDS, notably his defence (April 2000) of a small group of dissident scientists who claim that the HIV virus is not the cause of the disease. Though applauded by AIDS activists for its successful legal defence (April 2001) of cheaper locally-produced AIDS drugs against action brought by transnational pharmaceutical companies, his government has been accused of failing to respond adequately to the epidemic, which is now believed to affect one in ten of South Africa's population. Perhaps against his best wishes, South Africa now however has a comprehensive, orthodox, plan to combat the effects of HIV and AIDS, although Mbeki still expresses doubts about the prevalence of AIDS in South Africa.
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