Kgalema Motlanthe named as president to lead South Africa

The ruling African National Congress (ANC) will name party deputy head Kgalema Motlanthe as South Africa's caretaker leader on Monday to replace President Thabo Mbeki, ANC members of Parliament said.

Motlanthe, who already sits in the Cabinet, was named to take over from Mbeki until elections -- due in about April next year -- during a meeting of the ANC's parliamentary caucus, ANC MPs told Reuters on condition of anonymity.

Motlanthe is a left-leaning intellectual who has never sought the limelight. Motlanthe won praise at the ANC's national conference in Polokwane for calling ill-disciplined, younger members of the party to order.

When asked if it was true that Motlanthe was the candidate named to replace Mbeki, an ANC MP said "Yes, it is."

"Motlanthe will be the president, not interim, he will be the president of the republic until the election," spokesman for the ANC parliamentary caucus KK Khumalo said after a meeting between the party and lawmakers.

Motlanthe's nomination comes a day after President Thabo Mbeki announced his resignation in a live broadcast, after calls by his party for him to step down seven months before the end of his second term.

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

According to the South African constitution, parliament elects the president from among its members, dominated by the ANC since 1994.

"In terms of the process we are going to follow Mr Motlanthe is going to, in the days running up to the election ... be president of the country," said Phosa.

Motlanthe was only recently appointed to parliament as minister in the presidency charged with smoothing the transition from one administration to the next.

Vote in coming days

ANC spokesperson Khotso Khumalo said Parliament will vote on the president in the next few days.

"The political leadership is addressing the matter and getting hold of the chief justice and from then on, it will be nomination and voting, between today [Monday] and Thursday," Khumalo said.

ANC leader Jacob Zuma was due to address a news conference in Johannesburg at 12pm.

Parliament convenes at 2pm and Motlanthe's appointment may be put to a snap vote on Monday, almost certain to be officially approved by the ANC-dominated Assembly.
Mbeki, who presided over South Africa's longest period of economic growth, said in a televised address on Sunday he had tendered his resignation after the ANC asked him to quit before the end of his term next year.

The ANC made its request eight days after a judge threw out corruption charges against party leader Jacob Zuma, suggesting there was high-level political meddling in the case.

News of Mbeki's departure helped push South Africa's rand weaker in overnight trading, although traders said the political moves would not affect the currency much in the short term.

Analysts say the currency, which weakened by as much as 1,7 %, will remain vulnerable in the transition period and that any volatile changeover will have a negative impact.

"While investors may welcome greater certainty in terms of the future political outlook, a more volatile political transition is likely to cost the country dearly," said Razia Khan, Standard Chartered regional head of research for Africa.

Mbeki, who took over from Nelson Mandela as president in 1999, said on Sunday he remained a loyal ANC member and respected the party's decision but repeated that he did not influence the prosecution in the case of Zuma, his rival.

Zuma, who holds no government post, is all but certain to become head of state in an election in 2009. -- Reuters