Thabo Mbeki, former President of SA, is born in Idutywa, Transkei

Thabo Mvuyelwa Mbeki was born in Idutywa in Transkei on June 18 1942. Both his parents were activists.  His father, Govan Mbeki, was a prominent member of the African National Congress (ANC) in the 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. He later moved to Britain where he completed a Masters degree in economics at Sussex University. During the years of apartheid, he played a major role in turning the international media against the system. After South Africa's first democratic election in April 1994, Nelson Mandela chose Mbeki to be the first deputy president in the new Government of National Unity (GNU). Another deputy president was leader of the Nationalist Party (NP).  The NP withdrew from the GNU in June 1996 and Mbeki became the only deputy president. Mbeki was elected President of South Africa on 14 June 1999 and was inaugurated as President on 16 June 1999. In 2005 Mbeki removed Jacob Zuma from his post as Deputy President of the country after he was implicated in a corruption scandal. However, Zuma was cleared when a high court judge ruled that the charges were unlawful. Mbeki resigned from the presidency in 2008, just a few months before he was to complete his second term in office.