Kgalema Motlanthe 

Mr Kgalema Motlanthe is the Former President of the Republic of South Africa. Born to a working class family on 19 July 1949 in Alexandra Township, Johannesburg, South Africa, he fought against the injustice of the Nationalist Party system of apartheid-based racial discrimination of the African population.

On 14 April 1976 Motlanthe was arrested for furthering the aims of the African National Congress (ANC) by undergoing military training and being caught in possession of explosives. He was kept in detention for 11 months at John Vorster Square Police Station in central Johannesburg. In 1977 he was found guilty on three charges under Terrorism Act, which prescribed 5 years minimum sentence per count and sentenced to an effective 10 years imprisonment on Robben Island Prison.

After his release in 1987, Mr Motlanthe was tasked with strengthening the trade union movement in the country. To this end, he worked for the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) as a national coordinator responsible for education and was later elected as its General Secretary.

In 1990 when the banning on the ANC and other political organisations was lifted, Mr Motlanthe was tasked with re-establishing the legal structures of the ANC in the Gauteng Province. Mr Motlanthe served two five year terms as Secretary General of the ANC from December 1997 to December 2007.  As Secretary General he was responsible for the overall operations of the organisation and ensuring that all its structures functioned well.  

Mr Motlanthe was the Deputy President of the African National Congress during the period December 2007 – December 2012, and was also Minister in the Presidency from July – September 2008 and subsequently eelected by Parliament as the President of South Africa on 25 September 2008, serving until 9 May 2009.

In May 2009, Mr Motlanthe presided over general elections and handed over the reins to his successor President Jacob Zuma. At the end of his term as President, Motlanthe was appointed by President Jacob Zuma to serve as Deputy President of the Republic of South Africa and he served in that position from 11 May 2009 until 24 May 2014.

Former President also serves in a structure of former heads of state and government in Africa, The Champions of an HIV free Africa.

Mr Motlanthe is presently the Patron of the Kgalema Motlanthe Foundation that was established in 2015 when he left office of government. He was appointed by Parliament of the Republic of South Africa to head the High Level Panel on the assessment of key legislation and the acceleration of fundamental change. Mr Motlanthe is actively continuing to serve the development of communities and society at large through the following Organisations and Foundations:

• The Nelson Mandela Foundation;
• The Ahmed Kathrada Foundation;
• The Liliesleaf Museum Trust;
• The Institution for African Alternatives;
• The Brazzavile Foundation;
• Independent director of the Advisory Board of Ivanhoe International Mines.

Over and above the afore-stated institutions and foundations, Mr Motlanthe serves a second term as the Chancellor of the University of Venda in South Africa.

He recently received an honorary doctorate from Monash University in Australia and he also accepted the invitation from the African National Congress to serve as the Chairperson of the Board of the OR Tambo School of Leadership.

Lastly, H.E. Kgalema Motlanthe was nominated by President Emmerson Mnangagwa of Zimbabwe to Chair a Commission of Inquiry to investigate the violence that broke out in Zimbabwe after the 2018 National Presidential Elections.