Kgalema Motlanthe: from the underground to the presidency

Abstract

Kgalema Petrus Motlanthe was post-apartheid South Africa's third president and served in this position after Nelson Mandela and Thabo Mbeki. Motlanthe, who initially intended to become a priest, joined the underground of the ANC soon after completing his schooling, served 10 years' imprisonment on Robben Island for various activities in the underground, and, after playing a significant role in the progressive trade union movement, rose to leading positions in the ANC and then the post-apartheid government. From his early role in the underground to his current role in the democratic era, this public intellectual is noted for the contribution he made both to the liberation struggle and to the establishment and entrenchment of democracy in the post-apartheid era. Motlanthe is the first-born in the family of three sons and three daughters of Louis Mathakoe Motlanthe, who was a cleaner at the Anglo American Corporation headquarters, and Masefako Sophia Madingoane, who was a domestic worker. Motlanthe's maternal grandfather, Kgalema Marcus Madingoane, was a community activist in Benoni Old Location who eventually served as a township councillor. He was one of the founding residents of the township of Daveyton in 1955, where he owned a funeral parlour and general dealership. Kgalema Motlanthe's parents lived in Alexandra Township in Johannesburg until he was 11 years old, when the family was forced to move to Meadowlands in Soweto in 1959.