Editing Thabo Mbeki (section)

==Post-presidency==
[[File:Joe Biden with Thabo Mbeki.jpg|thumb|220x220px|Mbeki with American Vice President [[Joe Biden]] in the [[West Wing]], April 2011.]]
[[File:SRSG James Swan Meets Thabo.jpg|thumb|220x220px|Mbeki at a [[United Nations]] meeting on Sudan, July 2019.]]

=== Party politics ===
After his resignation from the presidency, Mbeki retained his ANC membership but retreated from party politics. In the meantime, the [[Congress of the People (South African political party)|Congress of the People]] (Cope) was founded as a breakaway party, composed largely of former ANC members known to be Mbeki loyalists. There were rumours that Mbeki was involved in Cope and would perhaps defect to it,<ref>{{cite web|date=2008-12-08|title='Mbeki is behind Cope'|url=https://www.news24.com/News24/Mbeki-is-behind-Cope-20081208|access-date=2022-02-04|website=News24|language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|date=2011-01-13|title=Mbeki was behind Cope - WikiLeaks|url=https://www.iol.co.za/news/politics/mbeki-was-behind-cope-wikileaks-1011402|access-date=2022-02-04|website=IOL|language=en}}</ref> especially after his mother Epainette, widow of ANC stalwart Govan, began attending Cope election rallies in the family's native Eastern Cape.<ref>{{cite web|date=2009-01-15|title=COPE pleased by Ma'Mbeki's support|url=https://ewn.co.za/2009/01/15/COPE-pleased-by-MaMbekis-support|access-date=2022-02-04|website=EWN|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|date=2009-01-15|title='Ma-Mbeki' has not joined COPE|url=https://www.iol.co.za/news/politics/ma-mbeki-has-not-joined-cope-431396|access-date=2022-02-04|website=IOL|language=en}}</ref> According to political analyst Susan Booysen, although Mbeki "would never emerge from the silent, invisible wings onto centre stage... the whole Cope plot carried the 'Mbeki' stamp."<ref>{{Citation|last=Booysen|first=Susan|title=Countered and cowered Congress of the People (Cope)|date=2011|url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/10.18772/12011115423.12|work=The African National Congress and the Regeneration of Political Power|pages=325–356|publisher=Wits University Press|jstor=10.18772/12011115423.12|isbn=978-1-86814-542-3}}</ref>

Mbeki began again to appear at ANC events and to comment on ANC politics from around 2011.<ref>{{cite web|last=Hlongwane|first=Sipho|date=2012-01-16|title=Mbeki is not coming back. Why would he?|url=https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/opinionista/2012-01-16-mbeki-is-not-coming-back-why-would-he/|access-date=2022-02-04|website=Daily Maverick|language=en}}</ref> Although he has since said that he continued to vote for the ANC in the interim, he did not campaign on its behalf at any time during the Zuma presidency, which lasted between 2009 and 2018.<ref>{{cite web|last=Feketha|first=Siviwe|date=2021-05-31|title=Dishonesty within the ANC kept me from campaigning, says Mbeki|url=https://www.sowetanlive.co.za/news/south-africa/2021-05-31-dishonesty-within-the-anc-kept-me-from-campaigning-says-mbeki/|access-date=2022-02-04|website=Sowetan|language=en-ZA}}</ref> In more recent years, he has been fairly vocal in reflecting publicly about perceived problems in the ANC and its leadership<ref>{{cite web|last=Madia|first=Tshidi|date=2021-06-01|title=Mbeki: Careerism within ANC a core problem|url=https://ewn.co.za/2021/06/01/mbeki-careerism-within-anc-a-core-problem|access-date=2022-02-04|website=EWN|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|last=Tandwa|first=Lizeka|date=2021-05-31|title=Magashule and Zuma are a cautionary tale for the ANC — Mbeki|url=https://mg.co.za/politics/2021-05-31-thabo-mbeki-says-magashule-and-zuma-are-a-cautionary-tale-for-the-anc/|access-date=2022-02-04|website=The Mail & Guardian|language=en-ZA}}</ref> and about the country's economic problems and policies.<ref>{{cite web|last=Ndaba|first=Baldwin|date=2021-10-21|title=Thabo Mbeki says government will not provide jobs, roads, sewer and houses on its own - business must assist|url=https://www.iol.co.za/news/politics/thabo-mbeki-says-government-will-not-provide-jobs-roads-sewer-and-houses-on-its-own-business-must-assist-06db23bb-ad3e-4bba-9656-74acf6b1e2e8|access-date=2022-02-04|website=IOL|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|last=Njini|first=Felix|date=2020-11-09|title=Thabo Mbeki criticises Cyril Ramaphosa's economic plan to save SA|url=https://www.biznews.com/briefs/2020/11/09/thabo-mbeki-ramaphosa|access-date=2022-02-04|website=BizNews|language=en-GB}}</ref>

=== International mediation ===
Motlanthe asked Mbeki to remain in his role as mediator in Zimbabwe after his resignation in 2008,<ref>{{cite web|date=2008-10-02|title=SA backs Mbeki as Zim mediator|url=https://mg.co.za/article/2008-10-02-sa-backs-mbeki-as-zim-mediator/|access-date=2022-02-03|website=The Mail & Guardian|language=en-ZA}}</ref> and he later returned to Zimbabwe, in 2020, to mediate a further political dispute.<ref>{{cite web|last=Fabricius|first=Peter|date=2020-03-27|title=Thabo Mbeki's mediation role in Zimbabwe remains unclear|url=https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2020-03-27-thabo-mbekis-mediation-role-in-zimbabwe-remains-unclear/|access-date=2022-02-03|website=Daily Maverick|language=en}}</ref> He also continued to chair the long-serving AU High-level Implementation Panel for Sudan and South Sudan, which in 2016 brokered an agreement between warring Sudanese parties to begin peace negotiations.<ref>{{cite web|date=2016-03-29|title=UN chief welcomes signing by Sudanese Government of African Union roadmap agreement|url=https://news.un.org/en/story/2016/03/525532-un-chief-welcomes-signing-sudanese-government-african-union-roadmap-agreement|access-date=2022-02-04|website=UN News|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|last=Allison|first=Simon|date=2016-08-15|title=Sudan needs a hero – but is Thabo Mbeki really it?|url=https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2016-08-15-sudan-needs-a-hero-but-is-thabo-mbeki-really-it/|access-date=2022-02-04|website=Daily Maverick|language=en}}</ref> Although he remained critical of the UN's interventions in Africa,<ref>{{cite web|last=Ncana|first=Nkululeko|date=2011-07-31|title=Mbeki: Africa has lost faith in the UN|url=https://www.timeslive.co.za/news/africa/2011-07-31-mbeki-africa-has-lost-faith-in-the-un/|access-date=2022-02-04|website=Sunday Times|language=en-ZA}}</ref> he also chaired the UN Economic Commission for Africa High-Level Panel on [[Illicit financial flows|Illicit Financial Flows]] from Africa, which was established in collaboration with the AU in 2011.<ref>{{cite web|date=2016-02-19|title=UN panel chief, Thabo Mbeki, urges action plans to tackle illicit financial flow from Africa|url=https://news.un.org/en/story/2016/02/522702-un-panel-chief-thabo-mbeki-urges-action-plans-tackle-illicit-financial-flow|access-date=2022-02-04|website=UN News|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|date=2016-03-30|title=Mbeki panel ramps up war against illicit financial flows|url=https://www.un.org/africarenewal/magazine/april-2016/mbeki-panel-ramps-war-against-illicit-financial-flows|access-date=2022-02-04|website=Africa Renewal|language=en}}</ref>

=== Philanthropy ===
The Thabo Mbeki Foundation was launched on 10 October 2010, ahead of a three-day conference. Its mission centres around Mbeki's trademark "African renaissance", and the objective of promoting Africa's political, social, economic, and cultural development.<ref name="Bloom-2010">{{cite web|last=Bloom|first=Kevin|date=2010-10-14|title='Foundation' trouble: What Thabo Mbeki is up against|url=https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2010-10-14-foundation-trouble-what-thabo-mbeki-is-up-against/|access-date=2022-02-04|website=Daily Maverick|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Mission & Vision|url=https://mbeki.org/mission-vision/|access-date=2022-02-04|website=Thabo Mbeki Foundation|language=en-ZA}}</ref> It was launched in tandem with the Thabo Mbeki African Leadership Institute, which aims to train leaders capable of contributing to the foundation's objectives.<ref name="Bloom-2010" />