Friends and family of former President Thabo Mbeki will attend a gala dinner to celebrate his 80th birthday this evening at the Sandton Convention Centre, North of Johannesburg.
Watch: Former President, Thabo Mbeki celebrated at 80th birthday dinner
The event will celebrate Mbeki’s life and leadership.
Thabo Mbeki was born in 1942 in the former homelands of Transkei in the Eastern Cape. As one from a family of political activists, the young Mbeki joined the ANC Youth League at the age of 14, becoming a student activist in politics.
After his schooling was interrupted by a strike in 1959, Mbeki completed his studies at home.
He then moved to Johannesburg where under the guidance of Walter Sisulu and Duma Nokwe, he became the Secretary of the African Students’ Association
Thabo Mbeki was elected President of South Africa 1999.
