Kgalema Motlanthe is a South African politician who previously served as the country’s acting president. After the elections held in 2009, he became the deputy president as Jacob Zuma won the presidency.
Kgalema Motlanthe’s Age
Kgalema Motlanthe was born on the 19th of July 1949 in Alexandra, South Africa. He is 75 years old and typically celebrates his birthday on 19th July.
Early Life and Education
Kgalema Motlanthe was born in Alexandra, a township outside Johannesburg in the Gauteng province. He grew up with his parents, Lowis Motlanthe, a cleaner, and Masefako Sophia Madingoane, a domestic worker.
Kgalema Motlanthe attended Pholosho Primary School in Alexandra while his family moved to Meadowlands in Soweto.
Due to being deprived of permission to take up a bursary, he had to attend Orlando High School in Soweto.
Following the influence of the Anglican church, Kgalema Motlanthe was an altar boy and almost became a priest.
Career
Kgalema Motlanthe took up a job as a supervisor for a liquor store after finishing high school. During this period, he was recruited into the armed wing of the African National Congress (ANC), which was banned in South Africa.
In 1976, Kgalema Motlanthe was arrested and detained for months at John Vorster Square. After being found guilty, he was imprisoned for ten years on Robben Island.
Trade Union
After his release from prison, Kgalema Motlanthe became an education officer at the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM), led by current South African President Cyril Ramaphosa.
At the union, he was focused on his earlier interest, which was political education. Kgalema Motlanthe remained an African National Congress (ANC) and South African Communist Party (SACP) member.
He was a one-time chairperson of ANC’s PWC before leaving to focus on the miner’s union.
ANC
Cyril Ramaphosa left the NUM to become a secretary for the ANC; he endorsed Kgalema Motlanthe and ensured he replaced him as acting general secretary at NUM.
In 1997, Kgalema Motlanthe was elected as ANC secretary at its national conference with support from senior leaders Nelson Mandela and Walter Sisulu.
Following his election, he resigned from the NUM and Central Committee position at the SACP.
Kgalema Motlanthe maintained the secretary-general position for ten years (between 1997 and 2007).
Some of the accomplishments during his tenure included a massive increase in party members and the implementation of the party’s cadre deployment and Black Economic Empowerment (BEE) policies.
In 2007, Kgalema Motlanthe was elected as the ANC deputy president, defeating Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma. During the same time, Jacob Zuma was elected as the party’s president.
Even with the changes, Thabo Mbeki remained the national president with Zuma seen as his successor.
Due to the close relationship that Kgalema Motlanthe has with both men, he was viewed as having a key role in easing the transition of power.
In 2008, Kgalema Motlanthe was sworn in as a Member of Parliament. Also, he became a member of the cabinet, Minister in the Presidency, and Leader of Government Business.
President of South Africa
Still in the same year after Thabo Mbeki’s resignation, Kgalema Motlanthe was elected by the parliament as President of South Africa.
After being sworn in, he assured the parliament of continuing Mbeki’s administration polices.
During his short stay as president, Kgalema Motlanthe removed Manto Tshabalala-Msimang from the health ministry, retained ex-president Thabo Mbeki as mediator between ZANU-PF and Movement for Democratic Change, signed into law two Bills which ended the Scorpions and National Prosecuting Authority, and sacked the National Director of Public Prosecutions, Vusi Pikoli.
In 2009, Kgalema Motlanthe voiced his support for Jacob Zuma as the presidential candidate for the ANC, with the general elections coming up.
Deputy President
After the elections, Jacob Zuma was elected as the country’s president while Kgalema Motlanthe became his deputy.
As the deputy president, he had a lot of official duties, including chairperson for the Energy Advisory Council, the Human Resource Development Council, the National AIDS Council, and the National Nuclear Energy Coordination Committee.
Kgalema Motlanthe was involved in public discourse and maintained a firm stand when he stressed that the media would be allowed to make their own regulatory mechanism.
In 2012, he got a nomination and went head to head with Jacob Zuma for the party’s president seat with support from provincial branches of Gauteng, Limpopo, Western Cape, and the Youth League.
Unexpectedly, Kgalema Motlanthe declined the nomination to go for re-election as deputy president. It meant that if he loses the party’s presidential election, he will automatically be removed from its top leadership.
In December 2012, the elections were held, and Jacob Zuma recorded 65% of the votes. As a result of this, Kgalema Motlanthe was to be replaced by Cyril Ramaphosa as national deputy president in 2014.
In 2014, before the general elections, he resigned from the government and the parliament.
Family
Kgalema Motlanthe first got married in 1975 to Mapula Mokate, but they divorced in 2011. In 2014, he married again, this time to Businesswoman Gugu Mtshali, and together, they have three children.
Net Worth
Kgalema Motlanthe’s net worth is currently undisclosed.