Thabo Mbeki: The Dream Deferred

In 1997, Thabo Mbeki, then 54, succeeded Nelson Mandela as leader of the African National Congress (ANC). Two years later, he followed Mandela again when he was elected in a landslide as President of South Africa. Barring an upset, however, these are Mbeki's last days as leader of the party that defined South Africa's liberation struggle. The ANC will elect its next President later this month at a party congress, and Mbeki's party deputy and bitter rival Jacob Zuma has already established a crushing lead over the incumbent. Mbeki will continue as South Africa's President until 2009, when the constitution demands...

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