by Selaelo

Created on: September 25, 2008   Last Updated: March 30, 2012

Thabo Mbeki, one of the most recognizable African leaders, has handed his resignation letter relieving himself of duties as the president of South Africa, something that has never happened in the history of the country. This probably came as a shock to many around the world, but to the African National Congress (ANC), this was no shock as some groups within the party have been planning to oust Mbeki ever since Jacob Zuma took the reigns as party president. The power struggle between the two top ANC men has been going on in public ever since Mbeki sacked Zuma as deputy president of the country over corruption charges. Thabo Mbeki, often viewed by some as a polished intellectual scholar who studied economics at Sussex University in the United Kingdom was seen by many as a visionary leader, a leader that had sharp economic policies that led South Africa to a period of economic growth. If this was the man entrusted by the ANC to lead millions of South Africans out of poverty, what is it that went wrong that led to his own political party turning against him?

There is no doubt that Mbeki's sound economic policies have helped make South Africa the most powerful economy in Africa. South Africa, which boasts the largest bond exchange market in Africa and the most actively traded emerging market currency in the world, has an economy more than twice the size of its rival, Nigeria. The growth is in part attributable to the many economic policies that Mbeki implemented during his tenure as president of South Africa. Some of the economic policies implemented and carried out during his tenure include the Growth Employment and Redistribution (GEAR) and the now well-known Black Economic Empowerment (BEE) policies. Both these policies brought prosperity in the South African economy and solidified the country as the most stable economy in Africa.

Mbeki's contribution did not just end with the economy, he contributed tremendously to mediating many of Africa's conflicts including Burundi, the Democratic Republic of Congo and recently helped broker a power sharing agreement in Zimbabwe between Robert Mugabe and Morgan Tsvangirai. If the agreement is adopted and finalized, this would mean a breakthrough for one of Africa's long-standing political conflicts.

Mbeki also popularized the concept of African Renaissance, a vision of continental renewal/reconstruction and reawakening. The concept is based on a few things including among others, the economic recovery of the African continent

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