South Africa president
steps down
Thabo Mbeki has formally resigned as the president of South Africa,
a day after accepting a call by the governing African National
Congress to quit.
In a televised address, Mr Mbeki said he had handed a resignation
letter to the speaker of the National Assembly.
He said he would leave his post as soon as a new president was
chosen.
Correspondents say it is not clear who will succeed him, but the ANC
appears to favour the parliamentary speaker, Baleka Mbete, as acting
president.
Mr Mbeki's speech followed an emergency cabinet meeting. He is
stepping down before his final term expires next year.
The move comes days after a high court judge suggested that Mr Mbeki
may have interfered in a corruption case against his rival, ANC
leader Jacob Zuma.
But during his address, Mr Mbeki made an impassioned defence of his
position.
There had been no effort at all to meddle with the judicial process,
he said. And Mr Mbeki dismissed any suggestion he had been trying to
shape the judgement for his own political ends.
The BBC's Karen Allen, in Johannesburg, said this was a very
measured and reflective speech.
Mr Mbeki began by saying that the ANC would decide the date of his
leaving.
"I have been a loyal member of the African National Congress for 52
years. I remain a member of the ANC, and therefore respect its
decisions," he said.
This was a very clear signal that he like so many others is keen to
make the transition as smooth as possible, our correspondent says.
Mr Mbeki, who succeeded Nelson Mandela as president in 1999, thanked
the nation and his party, the ANC, for giving him the opportunity to
serve in public office.
Source:BBC
|