President of South Africa
The President of South Africa is the head of state and head of government under South Africa's Constitution. From 1961 to 1994, the head of state was called the State President, or Staatspresident in Afrikaans.The President is elected by members of the National Assembly, the lower house of Parliament, usually being the leader of the largest party, which has been the African National Congress since the first non-racial elections were held of April 27, 1994. The first President to be elected under the new Constitution was Nelson Mandela, who was succeeded by Thabo Mbeki in 1999.
Under the interim Constitution, there was a Government of National Unity, in which the last State President, F.W De Klerk served as Deputy President, along with Mbeki, but he later resigned and went into opposition.
