Parliament convenes to consider the resignation of President Thabo Mbeki

Thabo Mvuyelwa Mbeki resigned as president of the Republic South Africa on Sunday 21 September 2008. Parliament convened on Monday 22 September and accepted his resignation. The African National Congress (ANC) also tabled a motion notifying the National Assembly on the resignation of Mbeki, and 25 September 2008 was put forward as the date on which the resignation of president would become effective. An objection to the resignation of Mbeki was raised by a Member of Parliament (MP) from the Freedom Front Plus (FFP) and called for a vote on his motion. The motion was intended to compel the ANC to explain its decision to recall Mbeki from office and to give Mbeki a chance to explain his side of the story to parliament. As a consequence, the issue was tabled for debate and voting the following day. On 23 September 2008, MPs voted overwhelmingly with 299 votes against the motion tabled by the FFP. Only ten MPs voted for the motion. The defeat of the FF Plus motion paved way for the voting in of the new president by parliament through secret ballot on 25 September. After the vote was passed, 11 cabinet ministers and three deputy ministers resigned in sympathy with Mbeki. On 25 September, Ben Turok an ANC MP nominated Kgalema Motlanthe as the ANC's preferred candidate to succeed Mbeki. Sandra Botha of the Democratic Alliance (DA) nominated its Federal Chairperson Joe Seremane as it preferred candidate to contest for the presidency.  After the voting, Chief Justice Pius Langa announced that Motlanthe secured 269 votes out of the 360. His challenger Seremane of the Democratic DA) secured fifty votes. There were forty one spoilt ballots. Motlanthe was sworn in as the third President of the country, after the fall of apartheid, on 25 September 2008. References: AFP. (2008) 'Parliament rubber-stamps Mbeki resignation' from Mail and Guardian, 23 September 2008 [online] Available at: www.mg.co.za [Accessed 9 September 2010] Anon. (2008) 'Resignations rock SA government' from BBC News, 23 September 2008 [online] Available at: news.bbc.co.uk [Accessed 9 September 2010] SAPA (2008) 'MPs reject Mbeki objection' from News24, 23 September 2008 [online] Available at: www.news24.com  [Accessed 9 September 2010]