Mbeki re-elected as ANC leader

South African President Thabo Mbeki was re-elected leader of the African National Congress without opposition today in a vote seen as a reaffirmation of his policies.

Mbeki opened the five day conference in Stellenbosch with a call for the party to work vigorously to help lift the country’s black population out of poverty and correct racial imbalances that remain nearly nine years after the end of apartheid.

The vote gives Mbeki at least another five years as ANC leader.

The party, which was formed 90 years ago, led the struggle against the racist apartheid regime and dominates South African politics. It won nearly two-thirds of the vote in the 1999 general election.