Former South African president Thabo Mbeki has proposed that Parliament evaluate candidates' capabilities before electing a president. Speaking at a conference in the Eastern Cape, Mbeki criticized the current process for not assessing fitness for the role. The suggestion has drawn criticism for its potential hypocrisy and implications for democracy.
On October 31, 2025, former president Thabo Mbeki addressed a conference in the Eastern Cape, arguing that the method of electing South Africa's president is flawed. Currently, the National Assembly votes for the president in its first meeting after elections. Mbeki stated, “the question is never asked if a President is capable and a fit and proper person,” adding, “When Parliament said I must become President, they did not have a clue what I was capable of doing, and they never asked.” He suggested that members of Parliament should assess a candidate's capabilities or qualifications prior to voting.
Mbeki himself was elected president in 1999 through this process and appointed Jacob Zuma as deputy president without any capability test, despite Zuma lacking formal qualifications. Critics highlight this as hypocritical, noting Mbeki's history of overruling qualified HIV experts during his presidency, despite his own master's degree in economics from the University of Sussex.
In 2022, while serving as chancellor of the University of South Africa (Unisa), Mbeki reiterated his unchanged views on HIV at a Unisa event, amid the Covid-19 pandemic. The Academy of Science of South Africa warned that such comments “will certainly fuel the latent stigma and denialism that health professionals, scientists, NGOs and civil society have worked so hard to mitigate.”
The proposal raises concerns about democratic access. Requiring tertiary qualifications could disqualify figures like EFF leader Julius Malema, who completed matric and later obtained an honours degree from Unisa, or DA leader John Steenhuisen. While lack of education among representatives poses challenges, such as local councillors struggling with financial oversight, imposing qualification barriers is seen as a threat to inclusive democracy, potentially enabling political opponents to challenge candidates in court.
Mbeki's influence persists as South Africa's second democratic president, though his comments underscore ongoing debates about leadership fitness amid broader political corruption issues involving figures like Julius Malema, Paul Mashatile, Malusi Gigaba, and Cyril Ramaphosa.