Thabo Mbeki was born June 18, 1942 in Idutywa, Queenstown, South Africa. His parents, Govan Mbeki and Epainette Mbeki were active members of the African National Congress (ANC) and the South African Communist Party. Thabo Mbeki joined the ANC when he was 14, and has been actively involved in it every since.

Thabo Mbeki initially attended high school in Lovedale, but was expelled as a result of student strikes. He went to Johannesburg and worked with ANC leaders Walter Sisulu and Duma Nokwe. Mbeke continued his education privately graduated in 1961. He began correspondence classes at the University of London. He also formed the African Students Organization.

In 1960, the ANC was banned in South Africa, and shortly after that Govan Mbeki was arrested. In 1962, following more arrests and violence, Thabo Mbeke left South Africa as an exile. He went to England, where he studied economics and earned a master of economics degree from Sussex College in 1966. Later, he went to the Soviet Union for military training.

Thabo Mbeki spent 28 years in exile, working for freedom and democracy in South Africa. While he was in exile, his brother Jama and his son Kwanda were both murdered by the South African government.

While in exile, Mbeki worked for the ANC, speaking against apartheid around the world. He worked in the London ANC office with party leaders Oliver Tambo and Yusef Dadoo. He also served the ANC in Zambia, Lesotho and Botswana. He was very influential in secret talks with the apartheid government to reinstate the ANC in South Africa and free political prisoners, including Nelson Mandela. He was also part of the discussions that led to the democratization of South Africa.

After apartheid ended and Nelson Mandela became President, Mbeki became his deputy. Mbeki became President of South Africa in 1999, and was elected to a second term in 2004.

Mbeki has been influential in African politics. He believes African problems should be solved by Africans, and was one of the founders of both the New Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD) and the African Union (AU). Mbeki served as President of the African Union from 2002-2003. He has helped broker peace agreements in Rwanda, Burundi and the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Mbeki’s government has made significant progress in bringing economic stability to South Africa and to rebuilding its infrastructure. He has improved employment figures, created housing and brought clean water to many South Africans. His economic policies are market-oriented and growth focused.

The biggest controversy surrounding Thabo Mbeki is his unconventional opinions regarding AIDS. South Africa has 5.3 million HIV positive citizens, which makes it one of the hardest hit countries in the world. Mbeki has been slow to encourage the use of antiretroviral drugs to treat AIDS and to prevent transmission from mothers to babies. The ANC has overruled Mbeki’s views, and current government policy is to provide antiretroviral drugs to AIDS victims.

In 2005, Mbeki fired his deputy president, Jacob Zuma after Zuma was implicated in a corruption and sexual misconduct scandal. That leaves South Africa with no obvious successor to Mbeki. Some people have accused Mbeki of wanting to change the constitution so that he can serve a 3rd term and retain power. Mbeki denies these charges and plans to step down at the end of 2009, when South Africa’s next elected leader will take charge.