Thoko Didiza
South African politician (born 1965) / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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Angela Thokozile Didiza (née Msane; born 2 June 1965) is a South African politician who is currently serving as Minister of Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development since May 2019. A member of the African National Congress (ANC), she was the Minister of Agriculture and Land Affairs from June 1999 to May 2006 and Minister of Public Works from May 2006 to September 2008.
Thoko Didiza | |
---|---|
Minister of Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development | |
Assumed office 30 May 2019 | |
President | Cyril Ramaphosa |
Deputy | |
Preceded by | Portfolio established |
Member of the National Assembly | |
Assumed office 21 May 2014 | |
In office 9 May 1994 – 26 September 2008 | |
Minister of Public Works | |
In office 22 May 2006 – 25 September 2008 | |
President | Thabo Mbeki |
Deputy | Ntopile Kganyago |
Preceded by | Stella Sigcau |
Succeeded by | Geoff Doidge |
Minister of Agriculture and Land Affairs | |
In office 17 June 1999 – 22 May 2006 | |
President | Thabo Mbeki |
Deputy | Dirk du Toit |
Preceded by | Derek Hanekom |
Succeeded by | Lulama Xingwana |
Deputy Minister of Agriculture | |
In office May 1994 – June 1999 | |
President | Nelson Mandela |
Minister | Kraai van Niekerk Derek Hanekom |
Succeeded by | Dirk du Toit |
Personal details | |
Born | Angela Thokozile Msane (1965-06-02) 2 June 1965 (age 58) Durban, Natal Province South Africa |
Political party | African National Congress |
Spouse |
Tami Didiza (m. 1995) |
Education | Ohlange School |
Alma mater | University of South Africa University of Melbourne |
Didiza entered politics through anti-apartheid activism, initially in Christian organisations and women's groups. She was the inaugural secretary-general of the Women's National Coalition from 1992 to 1994. She was elected to the first post-apartheid Parliament as a nominee of the ANC Youth League in 1994, and she joined Nelson Mandela's Government of National Unity as Deputy Minister of Agriculture from 1994 to 1999. A political ally of Mandela's successor, President Thabo Mbeki, she subsequently became a rising star in Mbeki's cabinet, first as Minister of Agriculture and Land Affairs and then as Minister of Public Works. She was among the several ministers who resigned in the aftermath of Mbeki's recall by the ANC in September 2008.
After a hiatus from frontline politics between 2008 and 2014, Didiza returned to Parliament in 2014 as a house chairperson in the National Assembly, a position she held throughout the fifth democratic Parliament. During that period, she stood unsuccessfully as the ANC's candidate for election as Mayor of Tshwane in the 2016 municipal elections; her nomination led to several days of riots by ANC supporters in the city. She returned to the cabinet in her current position after the 2019 general election, appointed by President Cyril Ramaphosa.
Didiza was first elected to the ANC National Executive Committee in 1997. She was a member of the committee from 1997 to 2007 and from 2012 to present. Her absence from the committee between 2007 and 2012 followed the ANC's Polokwane conference, at which she launched an abortive bid to become ANC deputy secretary-general on a slate of candidates aligned to Mbeki.