Motlanthe is named South Africa president

The ANC names its deputy president Kgalema Motlanthe as head of state until elections are held in seven months.

Kgalema Motlanthe has been named as the president of South Africa until elections are held next year.

South Africa's ruling African National Congress (ANC) today named its deputy president Kgalema Motlanthe as head of state until elections are held in seven months' time, a spokesman said. "Motlanthe will be the president, not interim, he will be the president of the republic until the election," the spokesman for the ANC parliamentary caucus KK Khumalo said after a meeting between the party and lawmakers.

Mr Motlanthe's nomination comes a day after President Thabo Mbeki announced his resignation in a live broadcast, after calls by his party for him to step down seven months before the end of his second term. Mr Motlanthe was elected party deputy president at a crunch ANC conference in December last year, which was when Jacob Zuma toppled Mr Mbeki from his position as party chief. According to the South African constitution, parliament elects the president from among its members, dominated by the ANC since 1994.

Mr Motlanthe was only recently appointed to parliament as minister in the presidency charged with smoothing the transition from one administration to the next. Mr Mbeki was called to resign after suggestions by a judge that his government had interfered in a corruption prosecution against his arch rival Zuma, which was thrown out of court over a week ago. Mr Mbeki denied any such interference in a broadcast to the nation yesterday.

*AFP