Which political office did Nelson Mandela hold immediately before becoming South Africa’s president?

Nelson Mandela was President of the African National Congress immediately before becoming South Africa’s president.

He was elected ANC president in July 1991 at the party’s first national conference after the organization was unbanned. In that role, he led the ANC during negotiations with the apartheid government and helped prepare the movement for participation in democratic elections.

Mandela became South Africa’s president after the ANC won the April 1994 election, and he remained ANC president until 1997. Thabo Mbeki succeeded him as ANC leader at the party’s 50th National Conference in Mafikeng.

Mandela had never been South Africa’s prime minister, because the country used a presidential system by the time he took national office. He was also not ANC secretary-general immediately before his presidency.