Priscilla Tozama Mantashe (23 October 196031 January 2021) was a South African politician from the

Eastern Cape The Eastern Cape is one of the provinces of South Africa. Its capital is Bhisho, but its two largest cities are East London and Gqeberha. The second largest province in the country (at 168,966 km2) after Northern Cape, it was formed in ...

. A member of South Africa's governing party, 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 served as a

Member of the National Assembly of South Africa Member may refer to: * Military jury, referred to as "Members" in military jargon * Element (mathematics), an object that belongs to a mathematical set * In object-oriented programming, a member of a class ** Field (computer science), entries in ...

from 2014 until her death in 2021. She was the sister of

Gwede Mantashe Samson Gwede Mantashe, popularly known as Gwede Mantashe, (born 21 June 1955) is a South African politician and trade unionist, who as of 18 December 2017, serves as the National Chairperson of the African National Congress. He is also a former ...

, the ANC's national chairperson and the Minister of Mineral Resources and Energy.

Background

Mantashe was born on 23 October 1960. She was the sister of

, who is the national chairperson of the

and the Minister of Mineral Resources and Energy. She served on the ANC's provincial executive committee in the

from 2010 to 2014. Mantashe was also the provincial chairperson of the

National Education, Health and Allied Workers' Union The National Education, Health and Allied Workers' Union (NEHAWU) is a trade union in South Africa. With a membership of 235,000 it is the largest public sector union in the country. It organizes State, Health, Education and Welfare workers. H ...

before she became the second vice president of the trade union responsible for international work.

Parliamentary career

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 ...

, she stood for election to the

South African National Assembly The National Assembly is the directly elected house of the Parliament of South Africa, located in Cape Town, Western Cape. It consists of four hundred members who are elected every five years using a party-list proportional representation syste ...

as the sixth candidate on the ANC's list of Eastern Cape parliamentary candidates. After the election, she was allocated a seat in the National Assembly. During her first term in parliament, she was a member of the Portfolio Committee on Trade and Industry, the Portfolio Committee on Economic Development and the Portfolio Committee on Labour. In November 2017, she was "verbally attacked" by fellow ANC MP Mervyn Dirks. Prior to the 8 May 2019 general election, she was given the 8th position on the ANC's province to national list. She was re-elected at the election. Mantashe was sworn in for her second term on 22 May 2019. On 27 June, she became a member of the Portfolio Committee on Trade and Industry. Mantashe was named to the Rules Committee on 7 October 2019.

Death

Mantashe died on 31 January 2021, from

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was COVID-19 pandemic in Hubei, identified in Wuhan, China, in December ...

complications during the

COVID-19 pandemic in South Africa The COVID-19 pandemic in South Africa is part of the ongoing pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). On 5 March 2020, Minister of Health Zweli Mkhize had conf ...

. She had been hospitalised for weeks. A virtual memorial service was held for her on 3 February. On 10 February, the ANC announced that her seat in the National Assembly will be filled by Prince

Zolile Burns-Ncamashe Prince Zolile Burns-Ncamashe ''Aa! Zweliyajika!'' (born 1965 or 1966) is the son of Chief Sipho Burns-Ncamashe ''Aa! Zilimbola!'', a South African politician and a member of the South African National Assembly for the African National Congress. ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mantashe, Tozama 1960 births 2021 deaths Xhosa people Politicians from the Eastern Cape 21st-century South African politicians African National Congress politicians Members of the National Assembly of South Africa Women members of the National Assembly of South Africa Deaths from the COVID-19 pandemic in South Africa

Background

Parliamentary career

Death

See also

References