Editing Thabo Mbeki (section)

=== 1978–80: Political secretary ===
When he returned to Lusaka from Lagos in 1978, he was promoted again: he replaced Nokwe as head of DIP, and simultaneously was appointed Tambo's political secretary, an extremely influential position in which he became one of Tambo's closest advisors and confidantes. He also continued to ghostwrite for Tambo, now in a formal capacity.<ref name="Gevisser-2007a" />'''{{Rp|page=|pages=385, 415}}''' At DIP, his approach was encapsulated by the change he made to the department's name, replacing "propaganda" with "publicity". He eschewed the secrecy of earlier years and openly gave interviews and access to American journalists, to the disapproval of some hardline communists. According to various sources, he was responsible for reforming the public image of the ANC from that of a [[Terrorism|terrorist]] organisation to that of a "government-in-waiting".<ref name="Gevisser-2007a" />'''{{Rp|page=|pages=394}}'''<ref>{{cite web|last=McGreal|first=Chris|date=1999-06-18|title=The great persuader steps out of Mandela's shadow|url=https://mg.co.za/article/1999-06-18-the-great-persuader-steps-out-of/|access-date=2022-02-05|website=The Mail & Guardian|language=en-ZA}}</ref>

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| quote = When I look at Thabo, I look at my husband's son. Physically, they bear a striking resemblance... They are both perfectionists, but without the intolerance that comes from many who share that quality. They are loyal and true. They are their own harshest critics. They both have the gift to draw people to them... They were [[soul mates]], different generations fusing at that particular time.
| source = — [[Adelaide Tambo]] reflects on Mbeki's relationship with [[O. R. Tambo]], June 2002<ref name="Gevisser-2007a"/>{{Rp|pages=222}}
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}}He established some of his own high-level intelligence networks, with key underground operatives reporting directly to him, and Gevisser claims that these led to the initiation of relationships with many of the domestic activists who later became his political allies. Moreover, he was responsible for innovating some of the vocabulary which became emblematic of the 1980s anti-apartheid struggle, which burgeoned in the aftermath of the [[Soweto uprising|1976 Soweto uprising]]. Such phrases as "mass democratic movement", "people's power", and the exhortation to "[[make the country ungovernable]]" are attributed to Mbeki, and gained widespread popularity inside South Africa through [[Radio Freedom]] broadcasts written by DIP or by Mbeki personally.<ref name="Gevisser-2007a" />'''{{Rp|page=|pages=414, 420}}''' Zuma has said that it was Mbeki's "drafting skills" which enabled his ascendancy in the ANC and ultimately to the presidency.<ref name="Gevisser-2007a" />'''{{Rp|page=|pages=415}}'''

In 1980, Mbeki led the ANC's delegation to Zimbabwe, where the party hoped to establish relations with [[Robert Mugabe]]'s newly elected government. This was a sensitive mission, because the ANC had historically been strongly allied to the [[Zimbabwe African People's Union]], the arch rival of Mugabe's [[ZANU–PF|ZANU-PF]]. Working primarily through Mugabe's righthand man, future Zimbabwean president [[Emmerson Mnangagwa]], Mbeki negotiated an extraordinarily congenial agreement between ZANU-PF and the ANC. The agreement allowed the ANC to open an office in Zimbabwe and to move MK weapons and cadres over Zimbabwean borders; moreover, it committed the Zimbabwean military to assisting the ANC, and the government to providing MK cadres with Zimbabwean identity documents.<ref name="Gevisser-2007a" />'''{{Rp|page=|pages=434–36}}''' However, Mbeki handed the running of the [[Harare|Salisbury]] office over to another ANC official, and the deal later collapsed.