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Thabo Mbeki

Personal Profile

Thabo Mbeki
  • Birth Name:
    Thabo Mvuyelwa Mbeki
  • Date of Birth:
    June 18, 1942
  • Zodiac Sign:
    Gemini
  • Place of Birth:
    Idutywa, South Africa
  • Sex:
    Male
  • Nationality:
    South African
  • Education:
    London University

Family

Thabo Mbeki
  • Spouse:
    Zanele Dlamini

Career

Thabo Mbeki

Trivia

Thabo Mbeki
  • Thabo Mbeki was joined ANC Youth League (ANCYL) while a student at Lovedale Institute in 1956.
  • Thabo Mbeki involved in underground activities in the Pretoria-Witwatersrand area after the ANC was banned in 1960
  • Thabo Mbeki involved in mobilising the students and youth in support of the ANC call for a stay at home in Thabo Mbeki protest against the creation of a Republic in 1961.
  • Thabo Mbeki was elected Secretary of the African Students Association on December 1961.
  • Thabo Mbeki continued with political activities as a university student in the UK, mobilising the international student community against apartheid
  • Thabo Mbeki worked for the ANC office in London (1967 - 1970). Underwent military training in the then Soviet Union during this period
  • Thabo Mbeki served as Assistant Secretary to the Revolutionary Council of the ANC in Lusaka, 1971.
  • Thabo Mbeki was among the first ANC leaders to have contact with exiled and visiting members of the Black Consciousness Movement (BCM). As a result of his contact and discussions with the BCM, some of the
  • leading members of this organisation found their way into the ranks of the ANC.
  • The focus of his activities during this time was to consolidate the underground structures of the ANC and to mobilise the people inside South Africa.

Quotes

Thabo Mbeki
  • "When will the day come that our dignity will be fully restored, when the purpose of our lives will no longer be merely to survive until the sun rises tomorrow!"
  • "Well, because lots of questions had been raised about the toxicity of the drug, which is very serious."
  • "We've had a long wrangle with the pharmaceutical industry about parallel imports, and what we were saying is we want to make medicines and drugs as affordable as a possible to what is largely a poor population."
  • "We will continue to count on your unwavering support and commitment to working with leaders of our continent in bringing about the desired renaissance of Africa."
  • "We are not being arrogant or complacent when we are said that our country, as a united nation, has never in its entire history, enjoyed such a confluence of encouraging possibilities."
  • "Together we have travelled a long road to be where we are today. This has been a road of struggle against colonial and apartheid"
  • "Those who oppressed us described us as the Dark Continent!"
  • "The poor prey on one another because their lives offer no hope and communicate the tragic message to these human beings that they have no possibility to attain a decent standard of living."
  • "The concern around probable questions, which in a sense have been hidden, will grow around the world and the matter is critical, the reason we are doing all this is so we can respond correctly to what is reported to be a major catastrophe on the African continent."
  • "That surely must be a concern to anyone who decides this drug must be given to stop transmissions, again from mother to child, which is extremely costly and must be taken into account."
View all Quotes: Thabo Mbeki

Biography

Thabo Mbeki
Last Updated: Thursday, October 01, 2009

Thabo MbekiThabo Mbeki was born in Idutywa in Transkei. Both his parents were activists, and his father, Govan Mbeki, was a leading figure in the activities of the African National Congress (ANC) in Eastern Cape. The young Mbeki joined the ANC Youth League at the age of 14 and became active in student politics.After his schooling at Lovedale Academy was interrupted by a strike in 1959, he completed his studies at home.

Thabo Mbeki moved to Johannesburg where he came under the guidance of Walter Sisulu and Duma Nokwe and was elected secretary of the African Students' Association (ASA). The ASA collapsed following the arrest of many of its members at a time when political movements were folding under increasingly severe attacks from the state and Mbeki went on to study economics via correspondence with London University.

Thabo Mbeki left South Africa for Tanzania in 1962 under orders from the ANC, after his father was arrested at Rivonia and sentenced to life imprisonment. From Tanzania he moved to Britain where he completed a Masters degree in economics at Sussex University in 1966. He Remained active in student politics and played a prominent role in building the youth and student sections of the ANC in exile. He worked at the ANC's London office with the late Oliver Tambo and Yusuf Dadoo before being sent to the Soviet Union for military training in 1970.

Following his studies he worked at the London office with the late Oliver Tambo and Yusuf Dadoo before being sent to the Soviet Union in 1970 for military training. Later that year he arrived in Lusaka where he was soon appointed assistant secretary of the Revolutionary Council. In 1973-74 he was in Botswana holding discussions with the Botswana government about opening an ANC office there. In 1975 he was acting ANC representative in Swaziland. Appointed to the NEC in 1975, he served as ANC representative to Nigeria until 1978.

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