Mbeki

He fought this election as the champion of the poor and a man of the people, in contrast to his more cerebral predecessor, Thabo Mbeki.

The reaction to Mr Mbeki's state-of-the-nation address last month, however, was not as upbeat as all that.

And Mr Mbeki seems content to leave Mr Mugabe in place, in the hope that age alone will gradually ease him out.

Mr. Mbeki said he would continue to push for a solution to the crisis, even if it takes six months.

Even South Africa, whose spineless president, Thabo Mbeki, is still refusing to criticise Mr Mugabe outright, has begun to turn against him.

Following the beating-up of MDC leaders last March, South Africa's president, Thabo Mbeki, has been trying to mediate between the two sides.

In his candid speech last month, Mr Mbeki appealed to South Africans to help eradicate " all that is ugly and repulsive in human society" .

Mr Mbeki, who has to step down as president after two terms, may be tempted to remain in the party post, which has no time limit.

Mr Mbeki's father was an anti-apartheid hero. Both he and Mr Mbeki's mother were also communists.

In contrast to his dour predecessor, Thabo Mbeki, Mr Zuma can charm the birds out of the trees.

Even leaders of Mr Mbeki's own party, the African National Congress (ANC), disagreed with him.

But Mr Zuma, whatever the ambiguities of his own example, is surely an improvement on Mr Mbeki.

With that, Zuma and his allies at the top of the ANC moved and toppled Mbeki.

Mantashe says as mediator appointed by the Southern African Development Community, Mr. Mbeki must be seen to be impartial.

Thabo Mbeki was ejected by the African National Congress from his post as South Africa's president.

This theory would not have mattered much except that Thabo Mbeki, a former president of South Africa, latched on to it.

DURING his annual state-of-the-nation speech earlier this month, President Thabo Mbeki acknowledged that many South Africans feel glum.

The mediator of the talks, South African President Thabo Mbeki is due back in South Africa Wednesday.

Mr Mbeki's deputy and ten ministers also resigned, of whom six said they would not serve in a new government.

Mbeki initially covered for his deputy president, Jacob Zuma, when he was accused of corruption.

Mr Mbeki is again the chief villain, trampling on Parliament while manipulating and browbeating the party in his quest for personal power.

Mr Mbeki followed in the steps of his distant father by sublimating his emotions into the anti-apartheid struggle, which became his life.

He says Tsvangirai expects this appointment to be announced following a meeting Friday between Ping and Mr. Mbeki in Pretoria.

In particular, it appears he has decided to intensify his predecessor Thabo Mbeki's more cautious engagement with Beijing.

Mbeki appreciated China for showing interest in Africa and helping African countries deal with the challenges of peace and development.

Tsvangirai says he wants no part of a mediation led only by South African President Thabo Mbeki.

Later, South African President Mbeki headed the cabinet ministers to hold a grand welcome ceremony in the Presidential Palace.

What differentiates Mr Zuma most obviously from Mr Mbeki is his copious charm, his readiness to listen, and his happy, relaxed manner.

Unlike the racially twitchy Mr Mbeki, he feels good in his skin, happy to acknowledge, even celebrate, his modest background.

Mr Mbeki still waffles and wobbles, but opinion in his ruling African National Congress is hardening against Mr Mugabe.

The biographer of Thabo Mbeki revealed in November that the South African President remained unconvinced that HIV caused AIDS.

Mr. Mbeki told VOA the mechanism for resolving disputes will included the foreign, defense and interior ministers of both countries.

It was a colossal misfortune that Thabo Mbeki was Mandela's successor.

Mr Mbeki deplores what he sees as the relentless pursuit of personal enrichment.

Mr Mbeki has denied accusations that his government used the courts to try and prevent his rival rising to the presidency.

Mr Mbeki is accused of "reracialising" South African politics, and the author supports this charge with a stack of evidence.

Mr Selebi is Mr Mbeki's man, and the president has discredited himself by defending his friend too doggedly .

In truth, though, Mr Mbeki will probably struggle to make much headway with Mr Mugabe, who despises the South African president.

And South Africa's president, Jacob Zuma, is less prone than his misguided predecessor, Thabo Mbeki, to treat Mr Tsvangirai like dirt.

But the MDC leader, Morgan Tsvangirai, resisting pressure from Mr Mbeki, stood his ground and refused to participate.

His predecessor Thabo Mbeki questioned main stream AIDS science and delayed the provision of life-saving drugs.

The book's title comes from a poem by Langston Hughes , a black American poet, that Mr Mbeki often cites.

CAN Thabo Mbeki, South Africa's lame-duck president, truly believe there is no crisis in Zimbabwe?

Last May, the cabinet of President Thabo Mbeki approved a five-year plan to guide efforts against AIDS in South Africa.

President Thabo Mbeki's dissident views on AIDS and antiretroviral drugs reflect similar fears.

The talks are being negotiated by SADC-appointed mediator President Thabo Mbeki of South Africa.

He reached broad consensus with President Tbabo Mbeki on furthering bilateral strategic partnership today.

All three deem South Africa's second post-apartheid president, Thabo Mbeki, a colossal failure.

Mbeki's health minister had recommended that people with HIV eat garlic to combat the infection.

Later, Mbeki conceded that HIV could be one cause of AIDS alongside malnutrition and other diseases.

But the MDC has lost patience with Thabo Mbeki, president of South Africa, who has been the region's appointed mediator.

Mbeki was deputy president at the time and headed the parliamentary subcommittee awarding the contracts.

Although no names were mentioned, the finger of guilt was firmly pointed at Mr Mbeki's people.

Lastly, not impossibly, the shrewd and technocratic Mr Mbeki might stay.

Having lost faith in Mr Mbeki, the MDC also wants a full-time mediator from the African Union.

He has studied hundreds of documents and interviewed more than 200 people, including, at length, Mr Mbeki himself.

Even among his closest followers, Mr Mbeki remains an enigma.

In the past, Mr Zuma has cast doubt upon Mr Mbeki's policy of "quiet diplomacy" , promising a tougher stance.

He and Mr Rwasa embraced under the watchful eye of South Africa's president, Thabo Mbeki, whose staff had helped to broker the peace talks.

Jacob Zuma, who ousted Mr Mbeki as the ANC's leader last year, said the situation was "worrying" .

Thabo Mbeki's wilful ignorance over AIDS appalled her.

The MDC called for Mr Mbeki, who is still the official mediator for Zimbabwe, to help resolve the issue.

Some, such as South Africa's president, Thabo Mbeki, preferred disseminating untruths about the disease and how it should be treated.

In any event Mr Mbeki should step down as mediator and give way to Jacob Zuma, South Africa's probable next president.

Mr Mbeki pointedly gave warning last year that Africa should beware of falling into a "colonial relationship" with China.

These are not Mr Mbeki's hysterical white whingers. They just want their country to rid itself of this evil.

The deals were a millstone around Mbeki's neck, and so began the cover-up.

Mr. Mbeki said all the leaders had agreed to the accord which was described as signaling a new dawn for the country.

That is why it is time for Mr Zuma, head of South Africa's ruling African National Congress (ANC), to displace Mr Mbeki as mediator.

But as The Economist went to press, Mr Mbeki looked unlikely to succeed in time.

Still, Mr Mbeki will not remain in office for ever, and it is his comparatively rich country that is leading the charge.

He derides South Africa's president, Thabo Mbeki, whom he sees as a grey, cautious upstart (and who is a generation younger).

Mr Mbeki, who mediated talks last year between representatives of Messrs Mugabe and Tsvangirai, was asked to resume his efforts.

Mbeki's resignation marked the end of a turbulent political era in South Africa,

Connotation of Mbeki's Idea of African Renaissance

Mbeki Resigns As South African President

Mbeki had previously stepped back from the AIDS debate in South Africa in 2000 after causing much controversy. 21