Mandela had prepared for a peaceful succession to the presidency. In
1997 he yielded the leadership of the ANC to his first deputy president, the
energetic Thabo Mbeki, and he delegated most of the day-to-day adminis-
tration to Mbeki. When the election was held in June 1999, the ANC won
more than 66 percent of the vote, and a reinvigorated Democratic party
replaced the National party as the official parliamentary opposition. The
ANC retained control of seven provinces, but the IFP again won a majority
in KwaZulu/Natal,
and in the Western Cape the National party formed a
coalition government with the Democratic party. Parliament then elected
Mbeki as president, and Mandela, universally admired as one of the great-
est people of the twentieth century, retired into private life, though not
into obscurity. He continued to play an active role in global affairs; for ex-
ample, he helped pacify Rwanda and Burundi. 84
Enter Mbeki
The new president appointed as deputy president Jacob Zuma, a loyal
ANC member who had no formal education and posed no challenge to
Mbeki's leadership. His cabinet represented continuity. It included all the
former ministers who were available, except one white man and one
African who had been an outspoken critic. He moved several ministers