Pauline Jeanette Williams is a retired South African politician. A member 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 ...

, she was elected to the

Northern Cape Provincial Legislature The Northern Cape Provincial Legislature is the legislature of the Northern Cape province of South Africa. It is a unicameral body of 30 members elected every five years. The current legislature was elected on 8 May 2019 and has an African Natio ...

in 2004. In 2009, she was appointed as the Member of the Executive Council (MEC) for Sport, Arts and Culture. She left the legislature in 2014, only for her to return in 2015. She was then made MEC for Transport, Liaison and Safety in 2016. Williams was briefly out of the post in May 2017. In February 2018, she was made the MEC for Environmental Affairs. Williams left the legislature again in 2019.

Early life and education

Williams was born in Springbok in

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...

's former Cape Province. In 1978, she earned a senior certificate from Northern Paarl High School. Williams studied for a BA degree at the University of the Western Cape between 1979 and 1981. In 1982, she earned a diploma in higher education at the

University of South Africa The University of South Africa (UNISA), known colloquially as Unisa, is the largest university system in South Africa by enrollment. It attracts a third of all higher education students in South Africa. Through various colleges and affiliates, U ...

. She obtained a B.Ed Degree at UNISA in 1991. Williams did a Diploma in Financial Management at APAC in 2000.

Career

Teaching career

From 1983 to 1996, Williams was an educator at Van Wyk Senior Secondary School in her home town. In 1996, she became the Namaqua regional coordinator of adult basic education and training. She held this position until 2000, when she was appointed as regional director of education. She served in this post until 2004. In this position, Williams was also a member of the Management Team at the

Northern Cape Department of Education The Northern Cape Department of Education is the department of the Government of the Northern Cape responsible for primary and secondary education within the Northern Cape province of South Africa. The political leader of the department is the Me ...

Politics

Between 1995 and 1997, she was a councillor of the Springbok Transitional Municipality and the Namaqua District Municipality. Williams was elected to the

in 2004 as a member of the

. She served on various committees in the legislature. Williams is a senior member of the ANC. She was an additional member of the party's regional executive committee in Namaqualand during her time as secretary. She also served on the party's provincial executive committee as an ''ex officio'' member. Williams also served as secretary of the ANC Women's League regional structure in Namaqua. She was an additional member and the deputy chairperson before she became the provincial chairperson of the women's league. Williams had also served on the National Executive Committee (NEC) of the women's league.

Provincial government

After the 2009 general election, she was appointed as Member of the Executive Council (MEC) for Sport, Arts and Culture, replacing Archie Lucas. She was re-appointed to this role in 2013 by the newly elected premier,

Sylvia Lucas Sylvia Elizabeth Lucas (born 22 April 1964) is the current Deputy Chairperson of the National Council of Provinces in the Republic of South Africa, after having taken office on 23 May 2019. From 2013 to 2019, she served as the 4th Premier of the ...

. For the 2014 general election, Williams was ranked 22nd on the ANC's list. The ANC only won 20 seats, meaning that Williams had lost her seat. Lebogang Motlhaping replaced her as MEC for Sport, Arts and Culture. However, she returned to the provincial legislature on 27 October 2015. In an executive council reshuffle in March 2016, she was appointed as the MEC for Transport, Liaison and Safety, succeeding Martha Bartlett. Ahead of the ANC's elective conference in May 2017, she emerged as a supporter of Zamani Saul's campaign for provincial chair. On the eve of the conference, Lucas (also a candidate for provincial chair) removed Williams from the executive. The ANC condemned Lucas' decision. On 1 June, Lucas rescinded her decision, returning Williams back to the executive council. In February 2018, she was appointed MEC for Environmental Affairs. Williams retired from politics in 2019.

References

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Williams, Pauline Living people Year of birth missing (living people) People from Namakwa District Municipality Coloured South African people African National Congress politicians Members of the Northern Cape Provincial Legislature Women members of provincial legislatures of South Africa