Mapula Motlanthe (née Mopate) is the former

First Lady of South Africa First Lady of South Africa is the title held by the wife or most senior wife of the president of South Africa. First ladies of South Africa Apartheid era Post-Apartheid era See also * President of South Africa * State President of South ...

and the ex-wife of former President of South Africa and

Robben Island Robben Island ( af, Robbeneiland) is an island in Table Bay, 6.9 kilometres (4.3 mi) west of the coast of Bloubergstrand, north of Cape Town, South Africa. It takes its name from the Dutch word for seals (''robben''), hence the Dutch/Afrik ...

prisoner Kgalema Motlanthe.

Biography

Mapula Mopate came from

Sophiatown Sophiatown , also known as Sof'town or Kofifi, is a suburb of Johannesburg, South Africa. Sophiatown was a black cultural hub that was destroyed under apartheid, It produced some of South Africa's most famous writers, musicians, politicians a ...

and spoke

Tswana Tswana may refer to: * Tswana people, the Bantu speaking people in Botswana, South Africa, Namibia, Zimbabwe, Zambia, and other Southern Africa regions * Tswana language, the language spoken by the (Ba)Tswana people * Bophuthatswana, the former ba ...

. Mapula started their relationship with Kgalema Motlanthe during the apartheid years and they married in 1977. Their children are Kagiso and Kgomotso.Kgalema Petrus Motlanthe
SAHistoryOnline, Retrieved 5 May 2016 She worked as a radiographer in Leratong Hospital in Mogale City.Mapula Motlanthe
Who's Who SA, Retrieved 5 May 2016 Their first child was born in 1972. After their marriage she lived with her husband's family and their second child, her husband was arrested and sent to Robben Island. Whilst he was in prison she gave birth to a daughter, Ntabiseng. Ntabiseng was not told that she had a different father until she was 21.

Resignation of Thabo Mbeki and succession of husband

In 2008 then

ANC The African National Congress (ANC) is a social-democratic political party in South Africa. A liberation movement known for its opposition to apartheid, it has governed the country since 1994, when the first post-apartheid election install ...

president and President of South Africa,

Thabo Mbeki Thabo Mvuyelwa Mbeki KStJ (; born 18 June 1942) is a South African politician who was the second president of South Africa from 14 June 1999 to 24 September 2008, when he resigned at the request of his party, the African National Congress (ANC ...

resigned as the president of

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the Atlantic Ocean, South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the ...

. Kgalema Motlante was chosen by the

NEC is a Japanese multinational information technology and electronics corporation, headquartered in Minato, Tokyo. The company was known as the Nippon Electric Company, Limited, before rebranding in 1983 as NEC. It provides IT and network soluti ...

to become the 4th democratic and 3rd post-

Apartheid Apartheid (, especially South African English: , ; , "aparthood") was a system of institutionalised racial segregation that existed in South Africa and South West Africa (now Namibia) from 1948 to the early 1990s. Apartheid was ...

president of

. Motlanthe was sworn in as president at the

Union Buildings The Union Buildings ( af, Uniegebou) form the official seat of the South African Government and also house the offices of the President of South Africa. The imposing buildings are located in Pretoria, atop Meintjieskop at the northern end of ...

Pretoria Pretoria () is South Africa's administrative capital, serving as the seat of the executive branch of government, and as the host to all foreign embassies to South Africa. Pretoria straddles the Apies River and extends eastward into the foot ...

, and Mapula became the first lady of the country.

2009 General Elections

In 2009 Kgalema Motlante was succeeded by former

Deputy President of South Africa The deputy president of South Africa is the deputy to the head of state and head of government of the Republic of South Africa and is a member of the National Assembly and the Cabinet. The deputy president is constitutionally required to "assis ...

Jacob Zuma, as the new South African President, Kgalema was chosen to become the country deputy president.

Divorce

Mapula and Kgalema started to divorce in 2011, and in 2014 they came to an amicable settlement. She received a monthly allowance and two houses. She and her husband had been separated for a number of years.Motlanthe, ex-wife settle divorce
Solly Maphumulo, Cape Times, Retrieved 5 May 2016

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Motlanthe, Mapula First ladies of South Africa Living people Year of birth missing (living people)