CAPE TOWN, Sept 25: South Africa's parliament on Thursday elected Kgalema Motlanthe as the nation's third post-apartheid president, after the dramatic ouster of Thabo Mbeki by his own party.

The ruling party's second in command won 269 of the 360 votes cast, Chief Justice of the constitutional court Pius Langa said.

“I accordingly declare the honourable Kgalema Motlanthe the duly elected president of the republic of South Africa,” he told the house, which erupted in cheers and applause.

Motlanthe will guide the country toward elections next year while aiming to bridge the gaping divide within the ruling African National Congress (ANC) as the nation comes to grips with its worst political crisis since the end of apartheid in 1994.

Motlanthe will have to build bridges between supporters of the fallen Mbeki and the ANC president Jacob Zuma, whose bitter political wrangling led to Mbeki's resignation last weekend.

Motlanthe attended Mbeki's last cabinet meeting on Wednesday, trying to send a message of continuity within the government after a third of the county's top leaders, including the country's deputy president, resigned in solidarity.

While it is expected that seven will stay on in the new administration, several others have said they are not willing to.

Zuma, who in December 2007 replaced Mbeki as ANC leader, has downplayed concerns that the political turmoil has plunged the country into crisis.

“There is no problem, the situation is under control, there must be no panic,” he said on e-tv news on Wednesday.

As party leader, Zuma is widely expected to be voted into the country's top office in elections next year.

Mbeki bowed to a call to resign from the presidency following a damning court ruling that hinted he was instrumental in a decision to prosecute his longtime rival Zuma, whom he fired as the country's deputy president in 2005.—AFP