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Thabo Mbeki and Nelson Mandela
https://mg.co.za/article/2018-02-12-anc-power-struggle-shows-that-south-africas-not-exceptional-after-all/

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Mbeki is an important figure to learn about because the scars of apartheid greatly impaired the success of his presidency. Mbeki enacted many of his policies to counteract the lasting damage apartheid had on South Africa. When Mbeki succeeded Mandela, he was faced with racism, high crime rates, a crippled economy, terrible conditions for the lower class, and prevalent corruption in the government. Although apartheid had fallen ten years ago, the lower classes' living conditions remained, for the most part, the same. Unemployment for Black South Africans was around 40% while, as a result of Mandela's "sunset" clause, White South Africans occupied the majority of senior government positions. The most pressing issue in Mbeki's South Africa was the extremely high crime rate resulting from poorly trained police officers, poor economic conditions, and corruption. Under the "sunset" clause, many police officers kept their jobs after the fall of apartheid. Consequently, 2/3 of senior management was still white. Of the 120,000 police officers in South Africa, nearly a quarter of them were illiterate. Most of these officers were trained to maintain apartheid and were not prepared for conventional police work. In combination with poorly trained officers, the high unemployment among Black South Africans forced them to resort to crime as a way of life as they had no other choice. Crime had gotten so bad under the Mandela Administration that in a survey conducted by the government, "more than half the population feels unsafe, and 83 percent believe that the government has little or no control over crime" (Thompson Mbeki's Uphill). The third factor in the high crime rates in South Africa was the rampant corruption in the local and state governments that worked with the organized gangs in the area. Therefore, as a result of many of Mandela's policies that sought to keep everyone happy, Mbeki was left with a fractured country economically, socially, and politically. Learning about Mbeki allows us to understand the lasting effects of apartheid and the deep scars that will take decades for South Africa to heal.

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Thabo Mbeki, a native Xhosa speaker, was born on June 18, 1942, in the small village of Mbewuleni in what is now the Eastern Cape. While Mbeki's father, Govan Mbeki, was a prominent figure in the South African Communist Party (SACP), Mbeki's mother, Ma Mofokeng, was a teacher, activist, and a member of the SACP. In his childhood, Mbeki went to many schools as the education system for Black South Africans crumbled around him. At the young age of 14, Mbeki joined the ANC's Youth League, and this would set him on the path to succeed Nelson Mandela as the Second President of South Africa.

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In 1962, Mbeki made his way to London to study economics at Sussex University and stayed with Oliver Tambo. After graduating from Sussex University, Mbeki planned to join uMkhonto we Sizwe (MK), but Tambo opposed this decision and encouraged him to do a Master's degree. Mbeki would return to Sussex University the next year for his Master's in Economics.

Over the next few decades, Mbeki would be sent to Russia and parts of Africa to receive training and occupy positions that furthered the ANC's goals. In 1970, Mbeki was sent to the Soviet Union to receive political and military training at the Lenin International School in Moscow. After a year in Russia, Mbeki was transferred to Lusaka, Zambia, where he was in talks with the Botswana Government to open ANC offices within the country.

In 1978, Mbeki was appointed as Oliver Tambo's political secretary and Director of Information. Mbeki essentially became Tambo's right-hand man, and in return, Tambo provided him with protections that made him untouchable. Tambo's protection allowed Mbeki to speak his mind at meetings, even when it angered many factions of the ANC. If it were not for Tambo, Mbeki would be a political outcast because of his regular policy statements without consulting the ANC's higher authorities.

From the 1980s to the 90s, Mbeki played an essential role in facilitating negotiations between the ANC and the apartheid government. Within this timeframe, he was appointed as the head of the ANC's Department of Information and Publicity and the Department of International Affairs. He wrote op-eds in the New York Times that called out the United States and stated that "Washington even [had] the gall to present a worsening situation as one that [was] improving." He wrote that "We in the African National Congress are therefore left with no alternative but to conclude that the Administration supports apartheid." These articles that he wrote in high-profile newspapers around the world placed Mbeki as a leader in the eventual downfall of apartheid and played a major role in swaying international opinion.

All while holding these positions and climbing the ranks of the ANC, under Tambo's tutelage, Mbeki was able to master his craft of diplomacy and gain supporters. Later on, many of his rivals were strong contenders for president, but some were assassinated and others lacked enough support. Instead of making passionate speeches, Mbeki preferred privately winning over businessmen of all races. Although Nelson Mandela favored another candidate to succeed him, Mbeki had won over the elders of the ANC and thus gained enough support to become the second president of South Africa. By 1993, Mbeki was appointed as the Chairman of the ANC, which led to him becoming the deputy president of the new government.

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As the child of two leading political activists, education was heavily prioritized. By this time, the Bantu Education Act, one of the apartheid government's most detrimental laws, was enacted. The act ended the autonomy of many of the missionary schools that educated the Black South African elite. As a result, most schools, rather than teach a racially discriminatory curriculum, chose to close. Even as schools closed, Mbeki would be called on, at the young age of 12, to advise the local chief, CW Monakale, on the culling policies of the apartheid government.

Mbeki would excel in his studies, and in 1954, he attended Lovedale College in Alice, a school founded by missionaries that would educate the country's future leaders. At Lovedale College, Mbeki joined the ANC Youth League and became active in student politics. In his final year of high school, Mbeki joined in a class boycott against the expulsion of another student that would cause him to be expelled.

In 1961, Mbeki convinced his parents to let him stay in Johannesburg with Duma Nokwe, an influential ANC leader and lawyer. In Johannesburg, Mbeki met Nelson Mandela and many leaders of the ANC for the first time. As a result of the ANC's banning, the party decided that Mbeki should go into exile. This moment is important to note because this even shaped Mbeki by placing him under the care of Oliver Tambo, his future mentor.

Mbeki would go on a daring escape with a group of comrades disguised as a football team. On their first attempt, the group was sent back after being caught by South African police. On the second attempt, the "football team" made it to Botswana, but the Zimbabwean police caught them and planned to hand them over to the South African authorities. However, a combination of Mbeki's strong arguments and a helpful court clerk saved them from the situation.

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https://www.sahistory.org.za/article/thabo-mbeki-1942-timeline

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nVhMVQH2r2U

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Knowing about Thabo Mbeki and his importance helps understand how apartheid played a significant role in the forceful separation of people and South Africa's economy. Once the new government of South Africa took over in 1994, the ANC immediately worked on rebuilding the country. The ANC "inherited an economy in shambles. A combination of the high-spending apartheid government, as well as the difficulties caused by worldwide economic sanctions. Against the apartheid government, left an economy in dire need of assistance." As deputy chief, Mbeki worked tirelessly to rebuild a broken economy, and his efforts demonstrate how apartheid largely influenced the economy. In addition, Mbeki continued his work to create a new economy years after his election as president. Strengthening the economy was his main goal throughout his two terms. However, the demonstration of effort and perseverance of Mbeki through so many years clearly demonstrates that the apartheid system held a large influence on South Africa's economy.

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https://www.enca.com/news/south-african-presidential-inaugurations-1999-2014

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https://www.nepadaprmkenya.go.ke/

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Thabo Mbeki is also very important because of his participation with the program New Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD). Mbeki was actually in charge of the organization and helped it reach its goals of helping developing countries in Africa. Mbeki wanted to make countries depend less on foreign aid and become more dependent on themselves. The program was solely based on trying to develop a nation's economy so that it can then make its own money. His leadership and generous donations made a large impact on the efficiency of the program, and even today, Mbeki continues to play an influential role in the program despite his old age.

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Thabo Mbeki is also important because he was the second president black president and succeeded in the position that was once held by the prominent figure of Nelson Mandela. As president, Mbeki heavily focused on continuing the reconstruction of South Africa. With his background in economics, Mbeki promised to focus on the growth of the economy and attract foreign investors. Another primary goal of his was to reduce poverty by removing strict labor laws. Mbeki also planned for privatization in South Africa to move faster and cut unnecessary government spending. His main goal as president was to reconstruct the nation's infrastructure after its decimation due to apartheid. Mbeki worked tirelessly to make an equal and fair South Africa to all its citizens. However, Mbeki's presidency is also important because it is an example of how a government failed to come to its people's needs. During his first term, Mbeki was heavily criticized for his mishandling of the AIDS/HIV epidemic in South Africa. At the time, he denied that HIV was the cause of aids and instead described AIDs as a "disease of poverty." Mbeki stated that the attention of politics should be directed at poverty in general rather than the epidemic specifically. "According to the CIA, as of 2003, 21.5 percent of the adult population is infected with HIV/AIDS. Five million three hundred thousand people are living with AIDS. Three hundred seventy thousand people have died because of HIV/AIDS. Fifty percent of the people in South Africa's hospitals have HIV"(Abrams, Thabo Mbeki). Nevertheless, despite all of the criticism, death, and mishandling, Mbeki was reelected to a second term in 2004 and continued to serve as the commander and chief of South Africa.

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Thabo Mbeki is important because in the early 1980's Mbeki was able to rise high enough in the ranks of the ANC, where the organization entrusted him to start negotiating with the government. Upon his return to South Africa, Mbeki contributed heavily to create a democracy in the country peacefully. Mbeki's participation in the negotiations between the government could have stopped a civil war from happening. The ANC assigned him to be the director of the Department of Information and Publicity. Through this position, Thabo was able to play an essential role in bringing an end to apartheid. In the late 1980s, Mbeki led a series of meetings between the ANC and the government of South Africa that eventually would lead to the release of Nelson Mandela. After the release of Mandela, Thabo would continue to negotiate with F.W de Klerk for the dismantling of apartheid and the beginnings of a new and free South Africa. Mbeki also promoted the international community to keep placing sanctions on South Africa as he said that the regime would "stretch out negotiations for many years means you continue apartheid. You continue the suffering of the people. So the pressures need to be kept on to expedite this process so that then the rest of the world deals in the end with a government genuinely representative of all the people of South Africa" (Mbeki, "ANC Leader Calls for More Sanctions"). If it wasn't for Mbeki's initiative, then it is possible that the apartheid state would have kept on existing for many more years.

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In June 1999, South Africa reelected the ANC to hold the presidential position. Since Mbeki was the president of the ANC, he was inaugurated as the second president of South Africa. However, Mbeki’s presidency wasn’t always sunshine and rainbows. During his first term, South Africa faced severe economic issues, and also had to deal with a large health crisis with the HIV/AIDS epidemic in the country. If anything , Mbeki worsened the epidemic as he completely mishandled the issue by appointing useless authorities, and questioning the pandemic's virality. Nevertheless, the problems with Mbeki’s first term as president were not enough to keep him out of office. Thabo was reelected to a second term where he continued to try and grow the economy. In 2005, deputy chief Jacob Zuma was facing charges of corruption and rape, so Mbeki had to fire him. Zuma was very liked in the government, so when Mbeki fired him, the entire government received a lot of criticism. Eventually, the ANC voted for Zuma to become the new president of the party, and Mbeki was forced to resign in December 2007.

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After the election of 1994, Nelson Mandela was elected as the first president of a new South Africa. The new president started to create his administration and appointed Thabo Mbeki as the new deputy president. Using his background in economics, Mbeki largely focused on rebuilding South Africa’s deteriorating economy. Through Mandela’s presidency, Mbeki worked long and hard with restructuring the economy, and even travelled the world to meet with foreign leaders. Overall. Mbeki was able to privatize businesses, improve the postal system, water quality, and roads. Two years into his presidency, Mandela’s age started to become a large toll on his ability to govern the country, so Mbeki began to effectively run the government himself. Because of his efforts, Mbeki was elected president of the ANC by it's members in December of 1997.

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How does knowing about Thabo Mbeki help us understand Apartheid?

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How does knowing about Thabo Mbeki help us understand Apartheid?