ANC's Zuma says Motlanthe would be good president

Party sources said Motlanthe would be nominated to replace Thabo Mbeki, who resigned as head of state on Sunday.

In his first public remarks after Mbeki's resignation, Zuma told a news conference in Johannesburg the ANC would ensure a smooth transition and continuity in economic policy.

ANC members of parliament told Reuters earlier that the party will name Motlanthe to replace Mbeki until the poll expected around April, which the ANC is widely expected to win.

Motlanthe is a left-leaning intellectual who has never sought the limelight.

When asked if it was true that Motlanthe was the candidate named to replace Mbeki, an ANC MP said "Yes, it is".

ANC spokesman Khotso Khumalo said parliament will vote on the president in the next few days -- the National Assembly sits later on Monday, Tuesday and Thursday.

Khumalo declined to comment on whether Motlanthe had been named as president to take over from Mbeki.

"The political leadership is addressing the matter and getting hold of the chief justice and from then on, it will be nomination and voting, between today and Thursday," Khumalo said.

Parliament convenes at 1200 GMT and Motlanthe's appointment may be put to a snap vote on Monday, almost certain to be officially approved by the ANC-dominated assembly.

Motlanthe, who already sits in the cabinet, was named to take over from Mbeki until elections due around April next year during a meeting of the ANC's parliamentary caucus, ANC members of parliament told Reuters on condition of anonymity. In a somber but dignified speech late Sunday focusing on the successes and shortcomings of his nine-year presidency, Mbeki said he had submitted a letter to the speaker of Parliament "to tender my resignation from the high position of President of the Republic of South Africa."He said he would stand down at a date to be determined by Parliament, which will convene in the coming days to select an interim president to serve until next year's elections.

The ANC has a huge majority and is expected to romp to victory in the polls despite its upheavals.

"I am convinced that the incoming administration will better the work done during the past 14-and-half years so that poverty, underdevelopment, unemployment, illiteracy, challenges of health, crime and corruption will cease to define the lives of many of our people," Mbeki was quoted by the AP as saying.

Mbeki, 66, lost the final battle in the long struggle against ANC President Zuma, his former deputy, on Saturday. Mbeki was pressured to quit after a judge threw out a corruption case against Zuma earlier this month on a legal technicality and implied that Mbeki's administration had put political pressure on prosecutors.

In his television address, Mbeki said "categorically" that he had never interfered in the work of prosecutors. He said that included "the painful matter" of the Zuma case. Zuma has been under a cloud for the past eight years from allegations relating to a big arms deal.

Photo: AP