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Article: South Africa's new men: the African National Congress chooses its new leaders, and prepares the ground for its new policy.(some candidates were unopposed including the new president, Thabo Mbeki, who is the successor to Nelson Mandela)(Brief Article)
- Article from:
- The Economist (US)
- Article date:
- December 20, 1997
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 1997 Economist Newspaper Ltd. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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"IT IS at this point that my generation, which did what it could, hands over the baton to our successors." Thus President Nelson Mandela ended an unusually outspoken five-hour speech, handing over the leadership of the African National Congress to Thabo Mbeki, elected unopposed as his successor. Some 3,000 cheering delegates waved farewell; ANC leaders queued up to hug the old man. But behind the jollity lay the hard-nosed business of defining the post-Mandela congress.
The dusty little town of Mafikeng, just short of South Africa's border with Botswana, was quite unprepared for the arrival of thousands of ANC delegates and visitors. Extra generators had to be ...