Maite Emily Nkoana-Mashabane (born 30 September 1963) is a South African politician who is the Minister of Women, Youth and Persons with Disabilities. She was

Minister of Rural Development and Land Reform The Minister of Rural Development and Land Reform is a Minister in the Cabinet of South Africa The Cabinet of South Africa is the most senior level of the executive branch of the Government of South Africa. It is made up of the President, t ...

from 2018 to 2019, and previously served as

Minister of International Relations and Cooperation The Minister of International Relations and Cooperation is the foreign minister of the Government of South Africa, South African government, with political responsibility for South Africa's Foreign relations of South Africa, foreign relations an ...

from 2009 to 2018. Nkoana-Mashabane is also a member of the

National Executive Committee National Executive Committee is the name of a leadership body in several organizations, mostly political parties: * National Executive Committee of the African National Congress, in South Africa * Australian Labor Party National Executive * Nationa ...

of the

African National Congress The African National Congress (ANC) is a Social democracy, social-democratic political party in Republic of South Africa, South Africa. A liberation movement known for its opposition to apartheid, it has governed the country since 1994, when ...

(ANC).

Biography

Nkoana-Mashabane was born in

Magoebaskloof Magoebaskloof (Makgoba) Pass is situated in the Limpopo Province, on the R71, the road between Tzaneen and Polokwane, in South Africa. It is a lush green mountainous area, covered by natural evergreen subtropical forest. This is an area where ...

and raised in Ga-Makanye,

Limpopo Limpopo is the northernmost province of South Africa. It is named after the Limpopo River, which forms the province's western and northern borders. The capital and largest city in the province is Polokwane, while the provincial legislature is ...

. During the 1980s, she was an active member of the United Democratic Front and served in various structures of the Mass Democratic Movement and the African National Congress' (ANC) underground structures. After the unbanning of the ANC in 1990, she served the party in various structures, including the

ANC Women's League The African National Congress Women's League (ANCWL) is an auxiliary women's political organization of the African National Congress, African National Congress (ANC) of South Africa. This organization has its precedent in the Bantu Women's League ...

(ANCWL) and actively participated in the relaunch of the ANCWL in the country. Nkoana-Mashabane went on to be appointed as South African High Commissioner to

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

and

Malaysia Malaysia ( ; ) is a country in Southeast Asia. The federation, federal constitutional monarchy consists of States and federal territories of Malaysia, thirteen states and three federal territories, separated by the South China Sea into two r ...

. She served as the Chairperson of the ANCWL in Limpopo and as a member of the National Working Committee (NWC) of the organisation from 1992 to 1995. On her return to South Africa, Nkoana-Mashabane became Limpopo's Local Government and Housing

Member of the Executive Council In South Africa, the Executive Council of a province is the cabinet of the provincial government. The Executive Council consists of the Premier and five to ten other members,''Constitution of the Republic of South Africa, 1996'', Chapter 6: "Pro ...

. In December 2012, Nkoana-Mashabane was re-elected as a member of the National Executive Committee of the ruling party at the party's 53rd National Conference, held in Mangaung, Free State Province. Her first election to the NEC was at the party's December 2007 National Conference, held in the city of Polokwane. President

Jacob Zuma Jacob Gedleyihlekisa Zuma (; born 12 April 1942) is a South African politician who served as the fourth president of South Africa from 2009 to 2018. He is also referred to by his initials JZ and clan name Msholozi, and was a former anti-aparth ...

appointed Nkoana-Mashabane as Minister of International Relations and Cooperation on 9 May 2009. Zuma subsequently disputed suggestions that this was an unusual appointment in light of Nkoana-Mashabane's apparent lack of foreign policy experience, saying that "the ANC knows the strengths of this comrade" and noting that she was a member of the ANC National Executive Committee. During Nkoana-Mashabane's tenure as Minister of International Relations and Cooperation, South Africa became a member of the group of emerging economies under the

BRICS BRICS is an acronym for five leading emerging economies: Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa. The first four were initially grouped as "BRIC" (or "the BRICs") in 2001 by Goldman Sachs economist Jim O'Neill, who coined the ter ...

(

Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

, South Africa) banner. Nkoana-Mashabane was President of the

2011 United Nations Climate Change Conference The 2011 United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP17) was held in Durban, South Africa, from 28 November to 11 December 2011 to establish a new treaty to limit carbon emissions. A treaty was not established, but the conference agreed to est ...

held in

Durban Durban ( ) ( zu, eThekwini, from meaning 'the port' also called zu, eZibubulungwini for the mountain range that terminates in the area), nicknamed ''Durbs'',Ishani ChettyCity nicknames in SA and across the worldArticle on ''news24.com'' from ...

from 28 November to 11 December 2011. She was sworn in for a second term as Minister of International Relations and Cooperation on 26 May 2014. She is currently a member of the ANC NEC and NWC. In 2015, Ms Nkoana-Mashabane was elected as the Treasurer General of the ANCWL. In February 2018, she was moved to the Department of Rural Development and Land Reform, and her position was subsequently filled by Lindiwe Sisulu. Nkoana-Mashabane rose to infamy after an interview on

Al-Jazeera Al Jazeera ( ar, الجزيرة, translit-std=DIN, translit=al-jazīrah, , "The Island") is a state-owned Arabic-language international radio and TV broadcaster of Qatar. It is based in Doha and operated by the media conglomerate Al Jazeera ...

(conducted in 1996) where she responded to questions about the state of South Africa by detailing the manner in which she had, in her childhood, carried water pails on her head and subsequently has a hole in her head. She has also continued to be a dogged supporter and defender of disgraced ex-president

despite his failure to uphold the constitution, his many corruption charges, and his rape charges, and particularly despite his erratic cabinet reshuffles which saw the South African economy lose R5 billion almost overnight. In May 2019, President

Cyril Ramaphosa Matamela Cyril Ramaphosa (born 17 November 1952) is a South African businessman and politician who is currently serving as the fifth democratically elected president of South Africa. Formerly an anti-apartheid activist, trade union leader, and ...

named Nkoana-Mashabane as Minister of Women, Youth and Persons with Disabilities, succeeding

Bathabile Dlamini Bathabile Dlamini (born 10 September 1962) is a South African politician who was the President of the African National Congress (ANC) ANC Women's League, Women's League from 2015 to 2022. She was previously the Minister of Women, Youth and Person ...

Personal life

Her late husband, former South African Ambassador to

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It consists of over 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, and parts of Borneo and New Guine ...

, Norman Mashabane, was recalled from that country after

sexual harassment Sexual harassment is a type of harassment involving the use of explicit or implicit sexual overtones, including the unwelcome and inappropriate promises of rewards in exchange for sexual favors. Sexual harassment includes a range of actions fro ...

charges were laid against him. He was later found

guilty Guilty or The Guilty may refer to: * Guilt (emotion), an experience that occurs when a person believes they have violated a moral standard Law *Culpability, the degree to which an agent can be held responsible for action or inaction *Guilt (law) ...

on those charges in the Pretoria High Court, and quit his post as political adviser.IOL:Sex pest Mashabane quits
/ref> He died in a car accident outside the provincial capital of

Polokwane Polokwane (, meaning "Sanctuary" in Northern SothoPolokwane - The Heart of the Limpopo Province ...

in 2007.

References

Sources

Short biography and picture

(2009-05-10) {{DEFAULTSORT:Nkoana-Mashabane, Maite 1963 births Living people People from Limpopo Northern Sotho people African National Congress politicians Foreign ministers of South Africa Members of the National Assembly of South Africa Female foreign ministers Women government ministers of South Africa Women members of the National Assembly of South Africa Members of the Limpopo Provincial Legislature 21st-century South African women 21st-century South African politicians 21st-century South African women politicians

Biography

Personal life

See also

References

Sources