Kammala jumla mai zuwa: Mbeki ya sadaukar da rayuwarsa ga ANC kuma a lokacin da yake gudun hijira an ba shi ƙarin alhakin. Bayan da
Rikicin Soweto na 1976 <unk> wani tashin hankalin dalibai a garin da ke wajen Johannesburg <unk> ya fara watsa shirye-shiryen rediyo na yau da kullun daga Lusaka, yana ɗaure mabiyan ANC a cikin ƙasar zuwa ga shugabannin da ke gudun hijira. Karfafawa 'yan gwagwarmaya gwiwa don ci gaba da matsin lamba kan mulkin wariyar launin fata wani muhimmin bangare ne a yakin neman zaben ANC don 'yantar da kasarsu. A ƙarshen 1970s, Mbeki ya yi tafiye-tafiye da yawa zuwa Amurka don neman tallafi a tsakanin kamfanonin Amurka. Mai ilimi da ban dariya, ya sami abokai da yawa a Birnin New York. An nada Mbeki shugaban sashen yada labarai na ANC a shekarar 1984 sannan ya zama shugaban sashen kasa da kasa a shekarar 1989, yana ba da rahoto kai tsaye ga Oliver Tambo, Shugaban ANC na wancan lokacin. Tambo ya kasance mai koyar da Mbeki na dogon lokaci.