Johannesburg - South Africa's Deputy President Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka was the first member of ousted President Thabo Mbeki's cabinet to confirm her resignation Tuesday.

Mlambo-Ngcuka's spokesman said she had handed in her resignation to Mbeki.

Her resignation comes two days after Mbeki stepped down as president just months before his second and last five-year term was due to run out.

Johannesburg - South Africa's ruling African National Congress (ANC) leader Jacob Zuma on Monday tipped ANC deputy president Kgalema Motlanthe to become acting president after Thabo Mbeki tendered his resignation on Sunday.

"I am convinced, if given that responsibility, he would be equal to the task," Zuma told a press conference in Johannesburg, with Motlanthe at his side.

Speaking publicly for the first time since the ANC's top decision- making body pressured Mbeki into resignation at the weekend, Zuma said the party would only name its candidate for caretaker president "at an appropriate moment" in parliament, which elects the president.

Johannesburg  - South Africa's archbishop emeritus Desmond Tutu on Monday said he

Johannesburg  - South Africa's ruling African National Congress (ANC) leader Jacob Zuma on Monday tipped ANC deputy president Kgalema Motlanthe to become acting president after Thabo Mbeki tendered his resignation on Sunday.

"I am convinced, if given that responsibility, he would be equal to the task," Zuma told a press conference in Johannesburg, with Motlanthe at his side.

Speaking publicly for the first time since the ANC pressured Mbeki into resignation at the weekend, Zuma said the party would only name its candidate for caretaker president "at an appropriate moment" in parliament.

If nominated, Motlanthe's ratification by the ANC-dominated National Assembly is seen as a foregone conclusion.

Johannesburg  - South Africa was thrown into turmoil Saturday after President Thabo Mbeki caved into pressure from the governing African National Congress (ANC) to resign his office.

The ANC said earlier it was recalling Mbeki as president in a bid to heal divisions in the party following a court finding of political interference in the corruption case of Mbeki's rival, ANC leader Jacob Zuma.

Johannesburg- South African President Thabo Mbeki will comply with a request from hi