Thabo Mbeki

Thabo Mbeki (born 18 June 1942) is the second post-democracy President of South Africa. He was forced to resign from the post by his African National Congress party in 2008.

Thabo Mbeki in 2003

Quotes

• Aids is Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome. I don't believe it's a sensible thing to ask: 'Does a virus cause a syndrome?' It can't. A virus will cause a disease. The syndrome is a group of diseases as a result of immune deficiency. As a result of immune deficiency you suffer various diseases.
  • August 2000, addressing South African Parliament [1] [2].

• By all means, let's work together.
  • 26 August 2011, University of Stellenbosch [3].

• Despite the advances we have made in our 12 years of freedom, we must also recognise the reality that we still have a long way to go... We should never allow ourselves the dangerous luxury of complacency, believing that we are immune to the conflicts that we see and have seen in so many parts of the world.
  • The Fourth Nelson Mandela Annual Lecture Address, Johannesburg, South Africa (29 July 2006)

I Am an African

• 'I owe my being to the hills and the valleys, the mountains and the glades, the rivers, the deserts, the trees, the flowers, the seas and the ever-changing seasons that define the face of our native land."
• "I am formed of the migrants who left Europe to find a new home on our native land. Whatever their own actions, they remain still, part of me."
• "In my veins courses the blood of the Malay slaves who came from the East. Their proud dignity informs my bearing, their culture a part of my essence. The stripes they bore on their bodies from the lash of the slave master are a reminder embossed on my consciousness of what should not be done."
  • speech at the adoption of the The Republic of South Africa Constitution Bill, 8 May 1996, Cape Town