Who's Who Southern Africa

Presidents of South Africa

Past and present South African heads state

Thabo Mbeki: Thabo Mbeki is a South African Politician who served almost two terms as the second post-apartheid President of South Africa, from 1999 to 2008. Mbeki also served as the Architect of NEPAD.
1999 - 2008

Jacob Zuma: Jacob Zuma was elected President of South Africa in May 2009. He has been President of the African National Congress (ANC) since December 2007 and was crowned 'African President of the Year' in 2009. Zuma became involved in politics at an early age, influenced by a family member who was a trade unionist. He has served as Chairperson of the South African National Aids Council and as Chancellor at the University of Zululand. Zuma is a patron of the Peace and Reconstruction Foundation, as well as the Albert Luthuli Education and Development Foundation.
2009 - present

Pieter Botha: Pieter Willem Botha, commonly known as PW and Die Groot Krokodil (Afrikaans for "The Big Crocodile"), was the prime minister of South Africa from 1978 to 1984 and the first executive state president, from 1984 to 1989. He passed away on 31 October 2006.
1984 - 1989

FW de Klerk: FW de Klerk was the last State President of apartheid-era South Africa, serving from September 1989 to May 1994. De Klerk was also leader of the National Party (which later became the New National Party) from February 1989 to September 1997. He shared the Prince of Asturias Awards in 1992 and the Nobel Peace Prize in 1993 along with Nelson Mandela for his role in the ending of apartheid. De Klerk received the Order of Mapungubwe (highest honour SA can bestow on citizens and foreigners).
1989 - 1994

Nelson Mandela: Nelson Mandela was the first South African president of a truly democratic South Africa. He was elected president in 1994, in South Africa's first democratic vote, and served until 1999. Prior to becoming president, Mandela was an anti-apartheid activist: the leader of Umkhonto we Sizwe, the armed wing of the ANC and both Transvaal president of the ANC and deputy national president. In 1952 Mandela and Oliver Tambo opened the first black legal firm in the country. Mandela served 27 years in prison, some of which were on Robben Island, after being convicted of “plotting to destroy the South African state by sabotage” at the now famous Rivonia trial . He was released from prison on 11 February 1990. Mandela has received more than 250 awards over four decades, most notably the 1993 Nobel Peace Prize. His birthday has been named Mandela Day in his honour, with the United Nations General Assembly observing the first ever annual 'Nelson Mandela Day' on Sunday, 18 July 2010. In 2011, a new book about Nelson Mandela entitled Nelson Mandela by Himself: The Authorised Book of Quotations, was released.
1994 - 1999

Kgalema Motlanthe: Kgalema Motlanthe is Deputy President of South Africa as well as Deputy President of the African National Congress. He previously served as President of South Africa from 2008 to 2009, completing the second elected term of Thabo Mbeki. He is a former trade unionist and member of the African National Congress' military wing Umkhonto we Sizwe.
2008 - 2009