SOUTH AFRICA: THABO MBEKI EXPECTED TO TAKE OVER AS ANC LEADER (2)

Описание: (16 Dec 1997) English/Nat

Thabo Mbeki is expected to take over as head of the African National Congress at the party's 50th congress on Tuesday.

His election will mark the high point of a life marked by extremes.

Mbeki spent much of his adult life in exile from South Africa while his father languished in jail with now President Nelson Mandela.

After his election, this rising political star will set his sights on his ultimate goal - the presidency of South Africa.

Thabo Mbeki is famed for his diplomatic skill and charm and is increasingly seen as a tough and ruthless politician.

He has played a central role in ending apartheid and has devised major government policies since the African National Congress, or A-N-C, took power.

But until now, he has always been in the shadow of South African President and A-N-C leader Nelson Mandela.

South Africa has been led by a living legend, and Mbeki admits its people have grown used to their president being a world icon.

SOUNDBITE: (English)
\"Nelson Mandela had a particular style which results in a particular style of leadership by the A-N-C.\"
SUPER CAPTION: Thabo Mbeki, South African Deputy President

Mbeki went into exile when his father was convicted and jailed for life in the famous Rivonia trial with Nelson Mandela.

Govan Mbeki is attending the A-N-C conference in Mafikeng to see his son take the reins power from Mandela.

SOUNDBITE: (English)
\"Well I'm told he's going to be the president, well, I naturally feel nice about it, but I feel as nice as I would have felt if any other of my younger comrades were taking the place.\"
SUPER CAPTION: Govan Mbeki, Thabo Mbeki's father

Over the years, Mbeki was not the star of the show, but rather a backroom person whose behind the scenes work has been crucial to many of South Africa's successes.

He will need all of his quiet diplomatic skills when he takes over the A-N-C presidency.

Political observers predict Mbeki will not be able to count on the unquestioning support of his party in the same way his predecessor did.

SOUNDBITE: (English)
\"Thabo Mbeki will not enjoy the same kind of authority, he's not another Nelson Mandela, he's not regarded as an icon, or as a messiah. So he's a human being and will therefore have to reason with people inside the A-N-C and outside the A-N-C. So his difference in style is going to be dependent, one, on consensus, two, on being able to convince people of the rightness of his own views rather than depending on his own authority because of the figure that he is.\"
SUPER CAPTION: Kaizer Nyatsumba, Deputy Editor, Mercury Newspaper

He received a Masters degree from Sussex University in England and military training in the former Soviet Union.

He represented the African National Congress in Botswana, London, Swaziland, Nigeria and Zambia while the organisation was still banned in South Africa.

He was seen as the right-hand man of former A-N-C President Oliver Thambo and increasingly as the organisation's most visible diplomatic force.

Mbeki is both a former Communist and a moderate who has slowly been stamping his authority on the government while Mandela moves into a more ceremonial role.

He was instrumental in talks with white South Africans in the late 1980's that led to the lifting of the ban on the A-N-C in 1990 and his return to the country.

Sampie Terrablanche, a political analyst at Stellenbosch University, took part in the talks and remembers Mbeki's skill.

SOUNDBITE: (English)
SUPER CAPTION: Sampie Terrablanche, political analyst, University of Stellenbosch









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