By definition, the Mbekis are SA's quintessential power couple and certainly its most unconventional.
Throughout his life, Thabo Mbeki has never been far from the seat of power. He has held it personally for the past 12 years, first as deputy president and then as president since 1999.
His father, Govan Mbeki, was a leading figure in ANC in the Eastern Cape. The younger Mbeki also came under the guidance of other struggle stalwarts such as Walter Sisulu and Duma Nokwe. And while he was in exile, his political and personal mentor was then ANC president Oliver Tambo.
But the fiercely independent and deeply private Zanele Mbeki was determined not to be drawn into the old-fashioned, traditional role of first lady.
During a discussion at the second Beijing conference on women in 1999, she insisted that she would not be defined by her husband's job description.
While supportive and loyal to the president, she has managed to balance her public duties with a largely separate life, where she has pursued her lifelong passion for women's empowerment.
On returning from exile in 1990, Zanele established the Women's Development Bank Trust, of which she was first a director and is now chair. She has emerged as a leading figure in pro-poor microfinance for rural women in SA.
She chairs the Trust Fund for SA Women's Economic Empowerment and is a trustee or director of several national and international boards which promote social and economic development.
Most recently, Zanele initiated SA Women in Dialogue, which promotes dialogue among SA women and pan-African dialogue for peace, equality and development.
Little is widely known about the first lady before she married Thabo Mbeki.
She was born Zanele Dlamini, the daughter of a pastor, and grew up in Alexandra township. She was among the second generation of black women to graduate with a social science degree from Wits University and completed her master's at the University of London.
It is believed that the Mbekis met in Swaziland when they were both there to organise that country's ANC headquarters.
They married in 1974 and friends at the wedding remember the occasion as a "small and classy affair" which was held at Farnham Castle, England.
According to the writer Anthony Sampson, Zanele's sister, Edith, who had once been a cover-girl for Drum magazine, then lived at the castle with her husband Wilfred Grenville-Grey. Essop Pahad, currently minister in the presidency, was the best man.
Zanele always knew that her marriage to Thabo was also a marriage to the struggle.
The writer Mark Gevisser, who is completing a biography of the president, tells of the time when, going through the ANC archives at Fort Hare, he came across a letter from Thabo to his wife, which began "Dear Comrade Zanele".
"It went something like this," says Gevisser: " Three young students will be passing through Nairobi next week. I have referred them to you. Please do what you can to assist them with scholarships. Yours in solidarity, Thabo'.
"That was it. No PS - How are you doing? How are the cats? Miss you. I'll phone you when I get a moment. ' Nothing. I really did weep then. Because it told me something about how deeply sublimated the personal had been to the political for revolutionaries like the Mbekis."
Ranking the Analysts 2009
