Sankie Dolly Mthembi-Mahanyele (née Mthembi; born 23 March 1951), formerly known as Sankie Mthembi-Nkondo or Sankie Nkondo, is a South African politician, diplomat, and former anti-apartheid activist. She was the Minister of Housing from 1995 to 2003 and served as Deputy Secretary-General of the African National Congress (ANC) from 2002 to 2007.
Early life and activism
Mthembi-Mahanyele was born on 23 March 1951[1] in Sophiatown in Johannesburg.[2] She matriculated at Sekane-Ntoane High School in Soweto in 1970 and then attended the politically tumultuous University of the North, graduating with a bachelor's degree in 1976.[2]
After graduating, Mthembi-Mahanyele went into exile abroad with the African National Congress (ANC), which was then based in Lusaka, Zambia. She was a journalist on Radio Freedom and worked under Thabo Mbeki in the ANC's department of international affairs.[3] During this period (and thereafter),[4] she wrote literature under the pseudonym Rebecca Matlou.[5][3]
Post-apartheid political career
Government
After the end of apartheid in 1994, she was appointed Deputy Minister of Welfare in the South African government, under President Nelson Mandela.[3] She stood for election as the ANC's Deputy Secretary-General at the ANC's 49th National Conference in December 1994, but – although she was believed to have the support of Mandela, Mbeki, and Jacob Zuma – lost "decisively" to the more left-wing candidate, Cheryl Carolus.[3]
Following the death of Joe Slovo, she was Minister of Housing from early 1995 to early 2003, serving under both Mandela and his successor, Mbeki.[6] In 1999, she sued the Mail & Guardian for defamation, in connection to the newspaper's claim in December 1998 that Mthembi-Mahanyele had awarded a housing contract to a friend; the Supreme Court of Appeal ultimately agreed with the Johannesburg High Court that the report did not amount to defamation.[7][8] In 2003, she won an award from United Nations Habitat for her work in the housing portfolio.[9]
Later career
Mthembi-Mahanyele's resignation from the cabinet followed her election as Deputy Secretary-General of the ANC at the party's 51st National Conference in December 2002.[10] She served in that position until the 52nd National Conference in December 2007, when she did not stand for re-election. In later years, she served as chairman of South Africa's Central Energy Fund from February 2012 until her resignation in 2015.[11][12] She was South Africa's Ambassador to Switzerland from 2018 until 2022,[13] when she was appointed Ambassador to Spain.
Personal life
While in exile, Mthembi-Mahanyele was married to Zinjiva Winston Nkondo and was known as Sankie Mthembi-Nkondo. Nkondo was also an ANC activist and writer (under the pseudonym Victor Matlou);[5] they divorced.[3] In 1996, Mthembi-Mahanyele married Mohale Mahanyele (born 1939, died 2012), a businessman.[14] They had one daughter, Nare, together.[15]
References
- ^ "Sankie Dolly Mthembi-Mahanyele, Ms". South African Government. Retrieved 6 November 2022.
- ^ a b Women Marching Into the 21st Century: Wathint' Abafazi, Wathint' Imbokodo. HSRC Press. 2000. p. 84. ISBN 978-0-7969-1966-3.
- ^ a b c d e Gevisser, Mark (20 January 1995). "The poet with a politician's instincts". The Mail & Guardian. Retrieved 6 November 2022.
- ^ "Healing from the armed struggle through poetry and prose". Rhodes University. 21 July 2011. Retrieved 6 November 2022.
- ^ a b Narismulu, Gayatri Priyadarshini (1998). Locating the popular-democratic in South African resistance literature in English, 1970-1990 (PhD thesis). University of KwaZulu-Natal.
- ^ "A Tearful Exit for Outgoing Housing Minister". allAfrica. 24 February 2003. Retrieved 6 November 2022.
- ^ Milo, Dario (1 January 2005). "The cabinet minister, the Mail & Guardian, and the report card : the Supreme Court of Appeal's decision in the Mthembi-Mahanyele case : notes". South African Law Journal. 122 (1): 28–43. hdl:10520/EJC53619.
- ^ "It's an F, Sankie, and that's final". The Mail & Guardian. 2 August 2004. Retrieved 6 November 2022.
- ^ "UN awards ANC's leader". News24. 5 October 2003. Retrieved 6 November 2022.
- ^ "51st National Conference: National Executive Committee as elected". African National Congress. Archived from the original on 9 November 2021. Retrieved 10 December 2021.
- ^ "New PetroSA CEO welcomed". South African Government News Agency. 19 November 2012. Retrieved 6 November 2022.
- ^ "Sankie Storms Out The Door". Africa Oil+Gas Report. 10 September 2015. Retrieved 6 November 2022.
- ^ "Refugees, xenophobia in SA top agenda for Western Govts - Ambassador Sankie Mthembi-Mahanyele". BizNews. 22 January 2020. Retrieved 6 November 2022.
- ^ Barron, Chris (16 September 2012). "Mohale Mahanyele: pioneer of BEE ended career under a cloud". Sunday Times. Retrieved 6 November 2022.
- ^ Monama, Tebogo (12 September 2012). "Mahanyele is no more". Sowetan. Retrieved 6 November 2022.