THABO Mbeki, who succeeded Nelson Mandela as South Africa’s second post-apartheid president, celebrated his 80th birthday on 18 June 2022. Following Mandela’s era of multiracial and multicultural rainbowism, Mbeki had to squarely address the challenges of acute inequality and the numerous grievances of the black majority caused by colonialism and apartheid. This was tough work with no easy solutions. Author SANYA OSHA, Senior Research Fellow, Institute for Humanities in Africa, University of Cape Town Mbeki was born in what is now the Eastern Cape province to fairly educated and politically conscious parents – Epainette, a schoolteacher, and Govan, a contemporary…