Afghan Press Author: Ima Kabiri

Thabo Mbeki, South Africa’s former president has been acting in the presidential role since Mandela handed over the power to him almost ten years ago, resigned in TV on Sunday 21-09-2009 addressing ‘I have been a loyal member of the ANC for 52 years.’

“I am calling an emergency meeting of cabinet. I have decided to quit out of loyalty to the party that is rejecting him. I have been a loyal member of the African National Congress for 52 years. I remain a member of the ANC and therefore respect its decisions. It is for this reason that I’ve taken the decision to resign as president of the republic”, said Mbeki.

Mbeki handed his resignation letter to the speaker of parliament and said he resigned as South Africa’s president. He will leave his office on a date set by parliament, after he was toppled by his own party following a long and bitter power struggle with his former deputy, Jacob Zuma.

Mbeki’s resignation was welcomed by many ANC members and specifically the ANC leader Jacob Zuma who moved against the president after prosecutors said they would appeal against a high court decision that threw out corruption charges against Zuma, and accused Mbeki and his officials of abusing the courts as part of the power struggle over control of the party.

The ANC is believed to support Zuma for the role of presidency. Zuma, who won the leadership election against Mbeki for control of the ANC late last year, is not a member of parliament and therefore could not be appointed.

Baleka Mbete, the speaker of the National Assembly and chairwoman of the ANC, was expecting to take over as interim president until elections scheduled for next year, but Kgalema Motlanthe deputy leader of the ruling African National Congress (ANC), was elected on Thursday by the South African parliament as the interim president.

In the European Union views Mbeki’s resignation was a tough exam for the newly borne Democracy of South Africa after Apartheid. The European Union saluted Thabo Mbeki for statesmanship and helping the country`s economy develop during his nine-year rule.

The EU also commended Mbeki for his inspiration and vision for the achievement of the African renaissance.

There has been lately a decidedly mixed reaction in South Africa to the forced resignation of Thabo Mbeki.

Many South Africans believe Mbeki hasn’t listened to the common men or done anything about them. Mbeki’s views on HIV/Aids and his denial over it caused great damage.

In some South African views Mbeki’s insisting on remaining in power would have risked destroying his legacy further. Adding by the fact there certainly would have been political turmoil across the country. And the Zimbabwe crisis has directly contributed to the drop in the economy and increase in unemployment.

Some opinions say President Mbeki had a great political career and he did his best not only for the country but also for the continent. Mbeki, who had hoped to make a dignified exit from office and retain some of his legacy as a peace broker on the continent — where he has mediated conflicts in the Ivory Coast, the Democratic Republic of Congo and, most recently, Zimbabwe — has instead faced a string of humiliating defeats, and leaves office much diminished.

Women in South Africa are truly worried about the rape issues after Ambeki. They believe the idea of Jacob Zuma as a president is not a good news as he was equated of all the rape charges. When he was asked if he knew if the lady was HIV positive and what did he do to prevent contracting it he replied that he had a shower!

South Africa today is suffering from the effects of apartheid. The number of skilled workers is very low. Foreigners enter the country for careers as most people in South Africa have not been properly educated.

Overall crime, racism, rape issues and HIV, have continued to be a major problem in the country. It is hard to think whoever will be the next president of South Africa can deal with the issues that Mbeki was not properly able to deal with. What is sure is the serious instability in the country.

“South Africa’s government is constrained by loads of problems. Much of the political analysis since Mbeki was toppled makes it sound as if SA is a stable liberal democracy in the middle of a simple change of government. Nothing could be further from the truth. South Africa’s most important historical challenge remains the establishment of harmony between its communities on the basis of economic self-sufficiency”, says Johann Rossouw.

Rossouw adds: “Since the middle of the 19th century, South Africa has had a state with executive capacity under the control of minority elite, maintaining its control through a strategy of divide and rule. Historically this elite has, in conjunction with the corporate sector, acted as intermediary with the SA’s most important trading partners. It has maintained an economic structure benefiting a limited part of the population, but not recognising or mobilising SA’s cultural diversity and its communities.”

“Those who think that Jacob Zuma will provide the necessary leadership to ensure stability need perhaps to think again. Since December 2007, when Zuma beat Mbeki to become ANC president, he often said that he wanted Mbeki to finish his full term. But Zuma failed his first big political test when the mavericks in his party succeeded in toppling Mbeki. The country now faces protracted instability. Its best hope is to get business and civil society together around a post-nationalistic, community-centred vision for South Africa”, Rossouw states.