Nelson R. Mandela retired from the presidency of South Africa, having established himself as one of the world's most recognized and revered statesmen. In parliamentary and presidential elections in South Africa, the ANC won a huge victory, gaining 266 of 400 available seats in the Assembly and a two-thirds majority through alliance with another party. The ANC leader Thabo Mbeki became South Africa's second popularly elected president (See 1999, June 2).
