Legendary South African Former President Thabo Mbeki arrives in Sri Lanka at the invitation of the Capital Maharaja Group

COLOMBO (News 1st); Legendary Former South African President Thabo Mbeki, a prominent statesman and the second democratically elected leader of South Africa, arrived in Sri Lanka this morning (26). 

Mbeki was hand-picked by the late-Nelson Mandela after the April 1994 general election to be the first Deputy President of South Africa's new Government of National Unity.

Former South African president Thabo Mbeki is often identified as an independent and original thinker. His profile as a policy shaper and mediator in the African National Congress (ANC) has been built up over a lifetime of involvement. "I was born into the struggle," he says.

Mbeki will be the chief guest at the Capital Maharaja Group's 45th Convention, set to take place tomorrow (27). He was welcomed by the Governor of the Western Province Hanif Yusoof, South African High Commissioner to Sri Lanka Sandile Schalk, and Chevaan Daniel, Group Director Electronic Media Business of Capital Maharaja Group.

During his visit, Mbeki is expected to meet with Sri Lankan President Anura Kumara Dissanayake, engage with young entrepreneurs and business leaders in Colombo, and participate in the “Gammadda” initiative over the weekend.

On June 28, Former South African President Thabo Mbeki will speak to young leaders at the “Circle of Dreams” youth forum which will be hosted at Cinnamon Life at City of Dreams - Sri Lanka.

Former President Mbeki will also engage in a fireside chat with Chevaan Daniel, CMG’s Group Director, on the topic of “Looking Forward: The Importance of Building the Future While Reconciling the Past”, also at Cinnamon Life at City of Dreams

Cinnamon Life at City of Dreams is the proud Hospitality Partner for the visit of President Mbeki and the delegation from the Thabo Mbeki Foundation.

Thabo Mbeki is the most important African political figure of his generation.

Mbeki was early exposed to politics by his father, a longtime leader in the Eastern Cape African National Congress (ANC), an organization dedicated to the elimination of apartheid in South Africa, who was later imprisoned (1964–87) with Nelson Mandela.

In the late 1960s Mbeki began moving rapidly up the ANC hierarchy.

He later played a key role in the discussions that led to negotiations between South African President F.W. de Klerk and the ANC in 1990. These talks, in which Mbeki was also involved, led to the adoption of a new interim constitution that marked the end of apartheid.

In 1994 Mbeki was appointed South Africa’s deputy president by President Mandela and played a major role in the day-to-day operations of the country’s first multiracial government. Mandela retired from politics in 1999, and, after the ANC’s victory in nationwide elections in June, Mbeki, who had become head of the ANC in 1997, was named president.