Kgalema Motlanthe Biography
Kgalema Motlanthe whose full name is Kgalema Petrus Motlanthe was born on 19th July 1949 in Boksburg, South Africa. He is a South African politician and served as the 3rd president of South Africa after the resignation of Thabo Mbeki between 25 September 2008 and 9 May 2009.
Kgalema Motlanthe Education – Kgalema Motlanthe Qualifications
He attended an Anglican Missionary School. The school was closed when the administration refused to implement Bantu education.
He later attended the Totomeng Lower primary School in Meadowlands and then went to Meadowlands Secondary School. He then enrolled at Orlando High School (also in Johannesburg). He completed his matriculation on Robben Island years later.
Kgalema Motlanthe Imprisonment
On 4 April 1976, he was arrested for furthering the aims of the ANC and was kept in detention for 11 months at John Vorster Square, in central Johannesburg. In 1977, he was found guilty of three charges under the Terrorism Act and sentenced to an effective 10 years’ imprisonment on Robben Island, from 1977 to 1987.
Kgalema Motlanthe Political Career
In the 1970’s while working for the Johannesburg City Council, he was recruited into Umkhonto we Sizwe, the military wing of the ANC. He formed part of a unit tasked with recruiting comrades for military training.
In January 1992 he was elected acting general secretary by the Central Executive Committee and in 1997 he was elected Secretary-General of the ANC, replacing Ramaphosa.
In December 2007 he was elected Deputy President of the African National Congress at the party’s 52nd National Conference in Polokwane.
In May 2008 he became a Member of Parliament and in July was appointed to the cabinet by Mbeki as Minister without Portfolio.
On 25th September 2008, after the resignation of Thabo Mbeki, he was elected by Parliament as the third post-apartheid President of South Africa until 9th May 2009.
In the 2009 election he did not want to occupy any government position. He said his aim was “to ensure that the new president is properly inaugurated”. President Jacob Zuma chose him for the position of Deputy president a position he held until 2014.
Kgalema Motlanthe Family
His parents are Louis Mathakoe Motlanthe and Masefako Sophia Madingoane. He has two younger brothers, Tlatlane Ernest and Lekota Sydney.
Kgalema Motlanthe Wife
He married his wife, Mapula Mokate, in 1975 and they have three children Kagiso, Kgomotso and Ntabiseng, but they later divorced in 2014. He later married Mtshali in May 2014.
Kgalema Motlanthe Photo
Kgalema Motlanthe