Mbeki: What the world thinks
2008-09-22 15:26
Cape Town - Local and international press agencies have sounded off on the resignation of Thabo Mbeki and the legacy he will leave behind.
Business Day
The replacement of one president by another is not a problem for a new democracy - it may well be a plus. But some of the circumstances surrounding President Thabo Mbeki's removal raise questions about the way that the African National Congress (ANC) leadership will govern after he goes.
The Citizen
When turbulence rocks the Ship of State, a nation needs shelter from the storm. We have that protection in our constitution.
The Times
Thabo Mbeki was the architect of his own political demise. His leadership style, as both president of the ANC and of the country, was autocratic.
The Sowetan
Change is traumatic, especially when it happens suddenly and unexpectedly.
But then the removal of President Thabo Mbeki as head of state can hardly be passed off as a consequence of mere change. Neither could it be explained away as a foregone conclusion.
Guardian.co.uk
A leader of Machiavellian tendencies who impressed abroad, not at home
The New York Times
Last year, The Financial Mail, one of South Africa?s leading business magazines, placed a photo of Jacob Zuma on the cover and then, alongside in big letters, the warning: "Be Afraid".
This Day
The challenges before President Thabo Mbeki have always been huge for obvious reasons. Going by his remarkable career as a liberation fighter, technocrat and politician, he appeared until yesterday, when he tendered his resignation, to have been undaunted by these challenges.
The Sydney Morning Herald
The timing of Thabo Mbeki's ousting took many South Africans by surprise, but it had been becoming increasingly clear that he was losing his feud with his African National Congress rival Jacob Zuma.
Times Online
South Africa is facing its biggest political crisis since the end of apartheid after President Mbeki resigned as head of state last night, admitting defeat in the bitter power struggle within the ruling African National Congress.
The Independent
Mr Zuma's allies must now fight to prevent an exodus of Mr Mbeki's loyalists from the cabinet, which could trigger an early election before scheduled polls next April, and deprive the government of valuable experience.
BBC
The African National Congress's decision to sack President Thabo Mbeki has been described by some South African commentators as "regicide".
Beeld (Afrikaans article)
The political death of President Thabo Mbeki at the hands of his own party should come as no surprise to South Africans.
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