born June 18, 1942, Idutywa, Transkei
President of South Africa (from 1999).
The son of an anti- apartheid activist, he studied economics at Sussex University in Britain, then received military training in the Soviet Union. He was appointed deputy president by Nelson Mandela following South Africa's first elections (1994) based on universal suffrage and soon took control of the government's day-to-day workings. Less charismatic than Mandela, Mbeki has been criticized for his views on the biology of AIDS. He has been particularly involved in South Africa's post-apartheid economic growth strategy.