President Kgalema Motlanthe of South Africa

This picture has been released into the public domain

var gaJsHost = (("https:" == document.

PRETORIA (AFP) South Africa's new President Kgalema Motlanthe won praise Friday for quickly forming a government after a week of political turbulence, but still faces fallout from the ouster of Thabo Mbeki.

South Africa's first democratic leader and anti-apartheid icon Nelson Mandela Friday said Motlanthe was "eminently deserving" of the job and stressed the country was in "good hands" under him.

Motlanthe took pains to emphasise in his inaugural speech to parliament that he would continue the government's economic policies, which have brought sustained growth, while also tackling the twin problems of poverty and crime.

Despite the praise, Motlanthe is expected to spend just a few months in office as he guides the nation toward elections next year.

If something were to go awry for Zuma, Kgalema Motlanthe has proved to be both capable as interim president and loyal to the ANC and would almost certainly provide the party with a logical successor to Zuma to represent the party in the elections later this year.

Kgalema Motlanthe has rejected as unnecessary calls for an investigation of the arms deal, which increasingly threatens to undermine the ANC even further at a time when the ruling party needs all the help it can get.

Recent polling data indicates that South Africans simply have no real sense of who Kgalema Motlanthe is or what he stands for.

The past few days have proven the durability of South Africas constitutional order and the vibrancy of its democracy, President Kgalema Motlanthe said while addressing the nation in a television broadcast last night.

Motlanthe has a golden opportunity to send this country a strong message by heeding Mthethwas call and getting rid of this blight on our crime-fighting landscape.

Kgalema Motlanthe has rejected a request by Archbishop Desmond Tutu and former president FW de Klerk for a commission of inquiry into the arms deal.

addEntry({ title: "Motlanthe says no to Tutu's call for arms deal inquiry", url.

PRESIDENT Kgalema Motlanthe had the gumption to fire Vusi Pikoli despite the finding by the Ginwala Commission than none of the state’s grounds for his suspension were valid.

Perhaps Motlanthe is being cautious for other reasons.

Selective axing of officials based on spurious grounds serves as a welcome reminder that Motlanthe is a servant of the ANC’s determination to bring the criminal justice system to heel so its leaders can rule without the inconvenience of accountability.

addEntry({ title: "Motlanthe is only decisive when it suits the ANC", url.

PRESIDENT Kgalema Motlanthe has decided to fire the suspended head of the National Prosecuting Authority, Vusi Pikoli, despite a finding by a commission of inquiry that “Adv Pikoli should be restored to the office of NDPP.

Motlanthe was the one ANC leader able to calm the crowd at the party’s Polokwane conference in December where Mbeki lost the fight to serve a third term as party president to Zuma.

After more than a third of the cabinet resigned after Mbeki's ouster, Motlanthe is under pressure to put together a government that will inspire confidence among investors jittery about South Africa's political stability and direction.

Motlanthe was born on 19 July 1949 in Alexandra township, Johannesburg, the son of a mineworker and a garment worker, Sophie Motlanthe.

Motlanthe was elected Deputy President of the African National Congress at the party's 52nd National Conference in Polokwane in December 2007, defeating the Mbeki camp's choice of Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma.

On 25 September 2008, Kgalema Motlanthe was elected by Parliament as the third post-apartheid President of South Africa.

Motlanthe has expressed his desire to address AIDS in South Africa using conventional scientific approaches.

A news item involving Kgalema Motlanthe was featured on Wikipedia's Main Page in the In The News section on 25 September 2008.

Motlanthe is the youngest of thirteen children, and he was influenced by the revolutionary ideologies of the Black Consciousness Movement of Steve Biko.

implying that Motlanthe was corrupt, although this wasn't supported by the text under that heading.

Overall Motlanthe received a score of 4.

Kgalema Motlanthe was elected as president of South Africa on 25 September 2008 after Thabo Mbeki resigned.

Kgalema Motlanthe was born on 19 July 1949 in Alexandra township, Johannesburg, to a working class family.

Kgalema Motlanthe has been sworn in as South Africa's caretaker president until next year's elections.

At school, Mr Motlanthe was influenced by the ideologies of the Black Consciousness Movement and the late anti-apartheid campaigner Steve Biko.

But Mr Motlanthe has also proved that he can be his own man.

But according to Mr Calland, Mr Motlanthe is well-known in the party.

The BBC's Mohammed Allie in Cape Town, where parliament sits, says Mr Motlanthe accepted the post reluctantly and it took weeks of persuasion by the ANC leadership before he relented.

Kgalema Motlanthe, the deputy leader of South Africa's ruling African National Congress (ANC) party, has been sworn in as president, replacing Thabo Mbeki.

Mr Motlanthe said he was "deeply humbled" by the outcome and would maintain the overall shape of Mr Mbeki's cabinet.

There were loud cheers in the national assembly as the chief justice announced that Mr Motlanthe had secured 269 of 360 votes cast.

Mr Motlanthe is a long-serving member of the party hierarchy and a man generally seen as a safe pair of hands, our correspondent says.

Motlanthe said South Africa stood by an agreement inked three months ago setting out a power-sharing arrangement between Mugabe and opposition rival Morgan Tsvangirai.

Motlanthe said the power-sharing deal states that once the amendment is gazetted, such a government can be formed almost immediately.

The draft gives Mugabe power to swear in Tsvangirai before the amendment is passed by parliament, and Motlanthe said Saturday he expected the prime minister to be sworn in with immediate effect.

Motlanthe said all countries in the 15-member bloc were expected to contribute to the campaign with their available resources.

South African President Kgalema Motlanthe refused on Wednesday to join calls for Robert Mugabe to quit, expressing hope that Zimbabwes stalled power-sharing agreement would be implemented this week.

But Motlanthe said South Africa stood by the fragile power-sharing deal struck in September between Mugabe and opposition rival Morgan Tsvangirai.

Given the controversy that swirls around Zuma , the discontented cadres allied with Mbeki, the wariness of many who see a fractured ANC, and the opportunity that Kgalema Motlanthe has before him, do not be surprised if Zumas gambit backfires and spectacularly so.

Motlanthe has kept his powder dry in the Zuma-Thabo Mbeki personality wars, which appears to have paid off for him.

Motlanthe is left-leaning but gained status within the party for chastising rowdy younger members of the party for causing divisions in Polokwane in December.

Kgalema Motlanthe (photo, from nouvelobs.

Motlanthe was politically active from an early age.

Upon his release in 1987, Motlanthe joined the National Union of Mine Workers as education secretary and in 1992 became its general secretary.

When the ANC was legalized in 1990, Motlanthe was tasked with the establishment of the organization in the Pretoria area, and he served as its first local chairperson.

In December 2007 Motlanthe was elected deputy president of the ANC, and Pres.

When Mbeki stepped down in September 2008 amidst accusations of political interference in the governments corruption case against Zuma, Motlanthe was chosen to be interim president until elections could be held in 2009.

The ANC's deputy president, Kgalema Motlanthe was elected and sworn in as South Africa's third democratic State President, during a full sitting of Parliament on 25 September 2008.

Motlanthe was elected party deputy president at a crunch ANC conference in December, when Zuma toppled Mbeki from his position as party chief.

The long-time opposition leader told reporters in Johannesburg that South African President Kgalema Motlanthe was arranging the meeting as chairman of the Southern African Development Community, which is.

be established this year 15th January 2009 Updated 39 minutes ago South African President Kgalema Motlanthe has signed a Bill into law, that will see the creation of South Africa’s.

President Kgalema Motlanthe has signed the South African National Space Agency Bill into law, which could see.

President Kgalema Motlanthe has signed the Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) from Publicly Funded Research and Development Bill.

Pretoria - President Kgalema Motlanthe has congratulated John Atta Mills on his election as Ghana's president and described his election as hope for millions of Ghanaians, the continent and the West African region.

South Africa reaffirms its commitment to work together with you for the political unity and integration of the African continent within the framework of the African Union and through our support for NEPAD as well as the AU institutions," President Motlanthe said on Saturday.

Queenstown - President Kgalema Motlanthe has called on South Africans to not only commit to ensuring that the rights of women and children are upheld but to open a new chapter in South African history which is free of violence.

Although Kgalema Motlanthe has been named as South Africa's caretaker president, his rule could run beyond next year's elections.

Motlanthe has never sought the limelight.

Motlanthe is the youngest of 13 children.

Motlanthe was detained in 1976 for 11 months for pursuing the aims of the ANC liberation movement.

Motlanthe was elected as the ANC's deputy president in December 2007, beating the Mbeki camp's choice of Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma, the former wife of Jacob Zuma.

Motlanthe is returning back to South Africa on Sunday after attending the extraordinary summit of the African Peer Review Forum (APRF) in Cotonou, Benin.

AxemanPresident Kgalema Motlanthe is pictured at a press briefing at the Union Buildings on Monday ahead of his announcement that he would be relieving suspended prosecutions boss Vusi Pikoli of his duties.

Read moreLooking presidentialSouth African President Kgalema Motlanthe is pictured at the presidential guest house in Pretoria on Thursday as he receives foreign diplomats.

Johannesburg - A survey on how President Kgalema Motlanthe is faring since taking office produced an unusually high number of I dont know responses, said the company which did the interviews.

Kgalema Motlanthe was sworn in as South Africas caretaker president today after winning three-quarters of a parliamentary ballot, the BBC reports.

Motlanthe was speaking to Cedric Gina, Numsa's second vice president and Rolly Xipu, Ekurhuleni regional organiser.

Motlanthe Says No Inquiry Despite Threat of LawsuitAllAfrica.

Petrus Kgalema Motlanthe was born in Alexandra Township on July 19 1949, the oldest boy of his parents' six children.

Motlanthe was released from prison in April 1987 and joined the National Union of Mineworkers as an Education Officer.

Motlanthe was quoted as saying, "you need people in these positions who buy into the value of the new nation.

For a while at least it seems that Motlanthe was bewitched by Mbeki's views on the aetiology of AIDS and the toxicity and lack of efficacy of anti-retrovirals.

By December 2002 Motlanthe had not moved that far away from his earlier stance.

On Zimbabwe Motlanthe was part of the ANC leadership collective which supported the hold of Zanu-PF on power through the first two stolen elections in Zimbabwe (in 2000 and 2002) and the land seizures which brought that country to ruin.

It is not clear to what degree Motlanthe took up these issues on HIV/AIDS, Zimbabwe, and cadre deployment, out of conviction - or whether he was just behaving like a loyal apparatchik dutifully defending and implementing the ANC ‘line' set by Mbeki.

Minister Motlanthe is perhaps the most level-headed and reasonable of all the politicians in the Zuma camp.

The challenge for Motlanthe is to rise above the ruling party's internal power play and govern in the best interests of the people of South Africa between now and the next election, says the DA.

Kgalema Motlanthe was born on 19 July 1949.

Motlanthe was elected to the position of Secretary General of the ANC in 1997, a position he held for 10 years.

At the party's 52nd National Conference in Polokwane in December 2007, Motlanthe was named Deputy President of the ANC.

Kgalema Motlanthe was born in 1949.

Secretary-General of the African National Congress.

Motlanthe was strictly adhered to and began when Chief Justice Pius Langa called for nominations.

President Motlanthe is a somewhat opaque figure to South Africans.

Motlanthe was born on July 19, 1949 in Alexandra township, now a suburb of Johannesburg.

Motlanthe joined the labor movement and in 1997 was elected secretary general of the ANC, a post he held until he was elected deputy president of the party in December last year.

Before he addressed the house, President Motlanthe had to listen to a string of opposition parties members who, while welcoming his appointment, warned him it is now time to put the country ahead of his divided party.

Mr Motlanthe was first appointed to the cabinet in July.

Mr Motlanthe was appointed to the cabinet in July after defying Mr Mbeki to defend Mr Zuma in a corruption trial and is a possible choice for the deputy president if Mr Zuma wins next April's election.

Despite having a marginal role in the humiliation of Mr Mbeki during a party congress last year, Mr Motlanthe is seen as a potentially unifying figure.

Home|President|ProfileProfile Kgalema MotlantheKgalema Motlanthe was born on 19 July 1949 in Alexandra township, Johannesburg, to a working class family.

ANC Deputy President Kgalema Motlanthe is highly regarded by most within the ruling party and is seen as a unifier.

In 1967, Motlanthe was detained for 11 months for political activity.

Shortly after his release in 1987, Motlanthe was appointed education officer for the National Union of Mineworkers.

Motlanthe is believed to have been involved with the sources of the notorious hoax e-mails purporting to reveal a political conspiracy against ANC President Jacob Zuma.

ANC secretary-general Kgalema Motlanthe is another widely touted option as a compromise candidate to succeed President Thabo Mbeki when he quits office in 2009.

With his hands on the ANC machinery and strong day-to-day connections with the membership base, Motlanthe is an extremely strong contender.

In 1967 Motlanthe was detained for 11 months.

Motlanthe has repeatedly said that his job was to accurately and as faithfully as possible reflect the views of the membership.

Mbekis unhappiness with Motlanthe is believed to date from the latters association with the sources of the notorious hoax e-mails purporting to reveal a political conspiracy against Zuma.

Guiney, Pattaya, ThailandMotlanthe says we feel that we should support and take our cue from what they want.

President Motlanthe was also accompanied by his Deputy Foreign minister Fatima Hajaig and other South African senior government officials.

South Africa, the only country with real influence in Zimbabwe, yesterday distanced itself from growing international calls for Robert Mugabe to step down.