Pinky Sharon Kekana (born 14 July 1966) is a South African politician who is currently serving as the Deputy

Minister in the Presidency The Minister in the Presidency is a Minister in the Cabinet of South Africa and is chosen by the President of South Africa. The minister is responsible for all portfolios within the Office of the President of South Africa. After Minister Ja ...

. She was first appointed to the national executive in February 2018 when 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 her as Deputy Minister of Communications, an office she held until she was appointed to her current position in August 2021. A teacher by training, Kekana was formerly a Member of the Limpopo Provincial Legislature and served in the Limpopo Executive Council from 2009 to 2013 under Premier Cassel Mathale. She was first elected to the

National Assembly In politics, a national assembly is either a unicameral legislature, the lower house of a bicameral legislature, or both houses of a bicameral legislature together. In the English language it generally means "an assembly composed of the rep ...

2014 File:2014 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Stocking up supplies and personal protective equipment (PPE) for the Western African Ebola virus epidemic; Citizens examining the ruins after the Chibok schoolgirls kidnapping; Bundles of wat ...

. In addition, she was elected to 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 her political party, the

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

, in 2017; she was re-elected to a second five-year term in 2022.

Early life and career

Kekana was born and raised in

Bela-Bela Bela-Bela ( Tswana/Pedi for "the pot that boils") is a town in the Limpopo Province of South Africa. Deriving its name from the geothermic hot springs around which the town was built, it was called Warmbaths, until 2002. The town is situated in ...

in present-day

Limpopo province 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 ...

(then part of the

Transvaal Transvaal is a historical geographic term associated with land north of (''i.e.'', beyond) the Vaal River in South Africa. A number of states and administrative divisions have carried the name Transvaal. * South African Republic (1856–1902; af, ...

). After earning a

Bachelor of Arts Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four year ...

in education, she worked as a secondary school teacher in Bela-Bela.

Provincial political career

Kekana was first elected to the

Limpopo Provincial Legislature The Limpopo Provincial Legislature is the primary legislative body of the South African province of Limpopo. It is unicameral in its composition, and elects the premier and the provincial cabinet, the Limpopo Executive Council, from among the ...

in 1999, representing the

(ANC). By 2008, she was the Executive

Mayor In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilities of a mayor as well ...

of Limpopo's

Waterberg District Municipality Waterberg is one of the 5 districts of Limpopo province of South Africa. The seat of Waterberg is Modimolle. The majority of its 745 758 people speak Sepedi, also known as Northern Sotho (2016 Community Survey). The district code is DC36. Ge ...

. In that year, at a party elective conference held in July, Kekana was elected as Deputy Provincial Secretary of the ANC's Limpopo branch, serving under Provincial Chairperson Cassel Mathale and Provincial Secretary Joe Maswanganyi.

MEC for Roads and Transport: 2009–2012

Pursuant to the 2009 general election, Kekana returned to the provincial legislature, and she was additionally appointed to the Limpopo Executive Council by Mathale in his capacity as

Premier of Limpopo The Premier of Limpopo is the head of government of Limpopo province of South Africa. The current Premier of Limpopo is Stanley Mathabatha, a member of the African National Congress, who was appointed in July 2013. He took office on 18 July 201 ...

. Mathale appointed her

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: "P ...

(MEC) for Roads and Transport. Her department was placed under administration by the national government in 2011. She was viewed as a political ally of Mathale and of

ANC Youth League The African National Congress Youth League (ANCYL) is the youth wing of the African National Congress (ANC). As set out in its constitution, the ANC Youth League is led by a National Executive Committee (NEC) and a National Working Committee (NW ...

President

Julius Malema Julius Sello Malema (born 3 March 1981) is a South African politician and activist who is a Member of Parliament and the leader of the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF), a left-wing party which he founded in 2013. He was formerly the President of ...

. In 2012, the opposition Democratic Alliance called for her resignation after the

Public Protector The Public Protector in South Africa is one of six independent state institutions set up by the country's Constitution to support and defend democracy. According to Section 181 of the Constitution: * These institutions are independent, and subje ...

Thuli Madonsela Thulisile Nomkhosi "Thuli" Madonsela (born 28 September 1962) is a South African advocate and professor of law, holding a chair in social justice at Stellenbosch University since January 2018. She served as the Public Protector of South Africa ...

, said that Kekana had approved an improperly awarded state contract with a company linked to Malema. In a different report released the same year, Madonsela also said that Kekana had abused her position as MEC to "settle political scores" by ordering a traffic cop to arrest Thandi Moraka, a political opponent of Malema's. In December 2012, she concluded her term as ANC Deputy Provincial Secretary and was elected ANC Provincial Treasurer.

MEC for Economic Development: 2012–2013

On 13 March 2012, when Premier Mathale announced a

cabinet reshuffle A cabinet reshuffle or shuffle occurs when a head of government rotates or changes the composition of ministers in their cabinet, or when the Head of State changes the head of government and a number of ministers. They are more common in parli ...

in which Kekana swopped portfolios with Pitsi Moloto, becoming MEC for Economic Development, Environmental Affairs, and Tourism. In July 2013, the ANC asked Mathale to resign. His successor as Premier,

Stan Mathabatha Chupu Stanley Mathabatha (born 21 January 1957) is a South African politician who is currently the Premier of Limpopo. He was elected to the position in July 2013 after the resignation of Cassel Mathale. He was previously a public servant in L ...

, announced a major reshuffle in which Kekana was one of eight MECs fired from the Executive Council; she was replaced by Charles Sekoati.

National political career

The following year, in the 2014 general election, Kekana was elected to a five-year term in a seat in the

, the lower house of the national

South African Parliament The Parliament of the Republic of South Africa is South Africa's legislature; under the present Constitution of South Africa, the bicameral Parliament comprises a National Assembly and a National Council of Provinces. The current twenty-seve ...

. She was ranked tenth on the ANC's provincial party list. In 2015, she was elected to the National Executive Committee of 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 (ANC) of South Africa. This organization has its precedent in the Bantu Women's League, and it oscillated from b ...

, and in December 2017, she was elected to the

of the mainstream ANC, ranked 47th of the 80 elected candidates by number of votes received. On 27 February 2018, Kekana was appointed Deputy Minister of Communications by

, who had recently been

elected Elected may refer to: * "Elected" (song), by Alice Cooper, 1973 * ''Elected'' (EP), by Ayreon, 2008 *The Elected, an American indie rock band See also *Election An election is a formal group decision-making process by which a population ...

as President of South Africa;

Nomvula Mokonyane Nomvula Paula Mokonyane (born 28 June 1963) is a South African politician who is currently the First Deputy Secretary-General of the African National Congress (ANC). She was the first female Premier of Gauteng from 2009 to 2014 and subsequentl ...

was appointed Minister of Communications in the same reshuffle. From November 2018, her portfolio was renamed Communications and Telecommunications, after Ramaphosa announced a merger of those respective ministries. In the 2019 general election, she was ranked 48th on the ANC's national party list and retained her legislative seat, as well as her position as Deputy Minister. On 5 August 2021, Ramaphosa announced a mid-term reshuffle in which Kekana was appointed Deputy

, serving under Minister

Mondli Gungubele Mondli Gungubele (born 1 February 1957) is a South African politician, trade union leader and educator who is the current Minister in the Presidency and a member of the National Assembly of South Africa for the African National Congress. He previ ...

. At the ANC's 55th National Conference in December 2022, she was re-elected to another five-year term on the party's National Executive Committee; by number of votes received, she was ranked 21st of the 80 candidates elected, receiving 1,518 votes across the 4,029 ballots cast in total.

Personal life

As of 2014, Kekana was married to Jerry Manyama, a civil servant; they have at least one child, Grant Kekana, who is a professional football player.

References

External links

*
Ms Sharon Pinky Kekana
at Parliament of South Africa
Pinky Sharon Kekana
at African National Congress {{DEFAULTSORT:Kekana, Pinky 1966 births Living people Government ministers of South Africa Members of the National Assembly of South Africa Members of the Limpopo Provincial Legislature African National Congress politicians