Nozipho Mxakato-Diseko

Nozipho Mxakato-Diseko (1 November 1956) is a South African diplomat. She is currently the United Nations Ambassador for South Africa.^[1] For the Paris Agreement, Mxakato-Diseko was the leader of the G77 bloc during negotiations.^[2]

Mxakato-Diseko at Climate Change Question Time event

Early life and education

Mxakato-Diseko was born in Johannesburg on 1 November 1956.^[3] She attended Somerville College, Oxford and has a doctorate in philosophy which she earned in 1991.^[4][3]

Career

Mxakato-Diseko worked as a campaigner for the African National Congress (ANC) and also as an activist in Soweto for the ANC.^[5][3] She also raised money for the British Defence and Aid Fund.^[3]

Mxakato-Diseko began as a representative of South Africa at the International Atomic Energy Agency in the mid-1990s.^[5] She has been the South African negotiator since 2011.^[4]

In 2024, Mxakato-Diseko was appointed by United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres to co-chair the Panel on Critical Energy Transition Minerals, alongside Ditte Juul Jørgensen.^[6]