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 Kgalema Motlanthe, 2009 World Economic Forum on Africa-by Eric Miller-

Top 10 Remarkable Facts about Kgalema Motlanthe

Kgalema Petrus Motlanthe was a politician from South Africa, who was elected as the country’s third president on 25 September 2008 and served in that position until 9 May 2009.

He was born on July 19, 1949, in Boksburg, Transvaal, Union of South Africa. He previously held the position of vice president of the African National Congress, the nation’s ruling party.

From a young age, Motlanthe was politically engaged. He joined Umkhonto we Sizwe (“Spear of the Nation”), the ANC’s militant branch while working for the Johannesburg city government while he was in his early 20s.

He was sentenced to 11 months in prison in 1976 for advancing ANC goals, and the following year he was convicted guilty of terrorist acts.

After being freed in 1987, Motlanthe joined the National Union of Mine Workers as secretary for education, later rising to the position of general secretary in 1992.

He is widely respected inside the ANC and regularly referred to as one of its leading “left-leaning intellectuals. Here are 10 remarkable facts about Kgalema Motlanthe.

1. He is named after Kgalema Madingoane, his maternal grandpa

Motlanthe was born to a family on July 19, 1949, in the township of Alexandra, which is located outside of Johannesburg in the old Transvaal (now Gauteng).

He was given the name Kgalema Madingoane in honor of his maternal grandfather, a councilor in Benoni who later served as a prominent figure in the brand-new Daveyton municipality.

2. He had been an altar boy as a youth and had thought about becoming a priest

 Motlanthe attended the Anglican missionary school Pholosho Primary School in Alexandra, where he was awarded a scholarship from the Anglican Church in 1964 to study in Swaziland.

In particular, the Community of the Resurrection cult, to whom Archbishop Trevor Huddleston belonged and which was well-known for its community work in the townships throughout his boyhood, had a significant influence on his early growth, according to him.

He was an altar boy when he was younger and thought about becoming a priest but was affected by Black Consciousness in his later years.

3. Motlanthe was imprisoned on Robben Island alongside Nelson Mandela

Kgalema Motlanthe at the 12th AU Summit-by Jesse B. Awalt-

Motlanthe was taken into custody in April 1976 and held at the John Vorster Square police station for several months.

 He was found guilty of offenses under the Terrorism Act connected to his MK activities, notably for having obtained explosives for sabotage, having been trained to commit sabotage, and supporting the ANC.

He was also given a prison term. Between August 1977 and April 1987, Motlanthe spent almost ten years as a prisoner on Robben Island the jail where Nelson Mandela had been detained since 1964.

4. Motlanthe joined the National Union of Mine Workers as an education secretary

Soon after leaving prison in June 1987, Motlanthe joined the influential National Union of Mineworkers (NUM), then led by Cyril Ramaphosa, as an education officer.

Since his father and both of his brothers had worked for the mining behemoth Anglo American, he had grown up in the mining sector, and his mother had been active in the trade union movement before she retired in the 1980s.

Motlanthe, who was born on Robben Island, pursued his interest in political education at the NUM.

5. He served as secretary general of the ANC

The President, Smt. Pratibha Devisingh Patil with the Deputy President of South Africa, Mr. Kgalema Motlanthe, at Pretoria, in South Africa on May 02, 2012-by President’s Secretariat-

Motlanthe continued to be a member of the ANC and the South African Communist Party when he was at the NUM (SACP).  

Between the beginning of 1990, when the ANC was lifted from its ban, and September 1991, when he resigned to focus on his NUM work, he served as the ANC’s PWV (now Gauteng) region’s chairman for a brief period.  

Ramaphosa abruptly resigned from the NUM to take the position of ANC secretary general.

 He was chosen by the NUM central committee to take over as interim general secretary in January 1992, with Ramaphosa’s support.

At the union’s election congress in 1994, Motlanthe was given a position as general secretary that he held until 1998 when he resigned.

6. He was chosen as the second Minister during Mbeki’s presidency

The newly elected ANC national leadership approached Mbeki in March 2008 and requested that he add Motlanthe to his cabinet.

Initially, this proposal was opposed by both Mbeki and Motlanthe. But on May 20, 2008, he was inducted in as a member of parliament to cover a vacancy, and on July 18, he was sworn in as a cabinet member.

In addition to being named Leader of Government Business, he was also named the second Minister in the Presidency (the first was Essop Pahad).

7. He was elected national president following Mbeki’s resignation

Kgalema Motlanthe with George Bush November 14, 2008-by Chris Greenberg-

After Mbeki resigned at the ANC’s request only a few weeks later, on September 25, 2008, Parliament voted him national president.

Until the 2009 presidential election, Motlanthe was widely believed to be a compromise candidate and to be in charge of a caretaker government.

In his seven and a half months in office, he seemed to put stability and sticking with the previous administration’s objectives first.

However, he broke with Mbeki’s HIV/AIDS policy on his first day in office by appointing Barbara Hogan in place of Health Minister Manto Tshabalala-Msimang, which had been criticized for being ineffective and driven by denial. 

The National Director of Public Prosecutions, Vusi Pikoli, was fired, and he signed legislation disbanding the Scorpions, an elite anti-corruption force.

He also made contentious changes to the National Prosecuting Authority.

8. As deputy president, Motlanthe filled various official duties

Kgalema Motlanthe, 2009 World Economic Forum on Africa-1-by Eric Miller-

Motlanthe served in a number of official capacities while serving as deputy president, including chairing the National Energy Advisory Council, and the National AIDS Council.

Also, the Human Resource Development Council, and, up until the middle of 2013, the National Nuclear Energy Coordination Committee.

Additionally, he served as the chairman of the interministerial committee for the South African 2010 FIFA World Cup.  

9. He was married twice and divorced once

Motlanthe wed Mapula Mokate in 1975. Before he became president in 2008, they were divorced, and he filed for divorce in 2011.

He married his longtime companion, businesswoman Gugu Mtshali, in May 2014 in Houghton, Johannesburg, after their amicable divorce was finalized in March 2014.

With Mokate, he has three grown children Kagiso, Ntabiseng, and Kgomotso.

10. Motlanthe is reputed to be “ferociously private”

 He did not invite any family members or other visitors to his inauguration as president, according to former Minister in the Presidency Frank Chikane.

Despite the fact that his ANC pals claim that “he can be a terrific joker” and that he frequently diffused tense situations among his Robben Island cohorts, he is also renowned for his reserved, measured demeanor.

By the time he was elected president, Motlanthe was widely and intermittently seen as an ally of each of the other living presidents, including Mbeki, Zuma, and his trade union colleague Cyril Ramaphosa.

He was also said to be “a highly experienced political operator.”