Hlengiwe Mkhize

Mkhize was born on 6 September 1952. In 1976, she completed a Bachelor of Arts in psychology, social work, and sociology from the University of Zululand, She went on to complete two postgraduate degrees at the University of Natal: an Honours in psychology in 1978, and a Master's in clinical psychology in 1981. ==Career in academia and activism==

Mkhize spent over a decade in academia: she was a senior lecturer at the University of Zululand from 1984 to 1990 and then a senior lecturer at the University of the Witwatersrand from 1990 to 1995. worked as a reparations officer in the President's Fund in the Ministry of Justice, chaired the board of the South African branch of Transparency International, and chaired the council of the University of Zululand. by the time that she joined the government in 2009, she was a director in 15 private companies, including Aerosud. Through much of her career in civil society, Mkhize was also an active member of the African National Congress (ANC), the post-apartheid governing party. From 1991 to 2004, she served continuously as a member of the executive of her local ANC branch – from 1991 to 1995 in Diepsloot; from 1995 to 2000 in Sandton; and from 2001 to 2004 in Havana City, Fourways, where she was branch secretary as well as chairperson of the local ANC Women's League. She remained in the treasury for a single extended term, which lasted until August 2015 due to delays in holding the next elective conference. She said that she raised more than R40-million in funds for the ANC Women's League during her tenure. In 2015, she did not stand for re-election, and she was succeeded as treasurer by Maite Nkoana-Mashabane. == Career in government ==

Deputy Minister: 2009–2017 She was first elected to the National Assembly of South Africa in the April 2009 general election, representing the ANC. She served in the assembly until her death in 2021, gaining re-election in 2014 and 2019. In addition, after the 2009 election, she was appointed as a deputy minister under the cabinet of newly elected President Jacob Zuma, who named her as Deputy Minister of Correctional Services under Minister Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula. Mkhize was viewed as a political supporter and ally of Zuma. Finally, in her fourth and final deputy ministerial position in Zuma's administration, she was appointed as Deputy Minister of Telecommunications and Postal Services when that portfolio was established after the 2014 general election. Minister of Home Affairs: 2017 Late on 30 March 2017, Zuma announced another cabinet reshuffle in which Mkhize was promoted to his second-term cabinet, succeeding Malusi Gigaba as Minister of Home Affairs. Early in her tenure as minister, Mkhize attracted media attention for defending her predecessor's controversial decision to grant South African citizenship to members of the Gupta family, a decision that critics claimed amounted to unfair preferential treatment. Also controversial was Mkhize's decision to place Mkuseli Apleni, the director-general of the Department of Home Affairs, on precautionary suspension. Apleni said that she did not have proper grounds for the suspension and threatened to sue the ministry, while the Select Committee on Social Services raised its own doubts about the decision. Minister of Higher Education and Training: 2017–2018 Mkhize spent less than a year in the home affairs portfolio before, on 17 October 2017, she was appointed as Minister of Higher Education and Training, succeeding her former boss, Blade Nzimande. While she was serving in this office, Mkhize attended the ANC's 54th National Conference, at which she was elected to a five-year term as a member of the party's National Executive Committee. By number of votes received, she was ranked 73rd of the committee's 80 ordinary members. Portfolio committees: 2018–2019 On 26 February 2018, Mkhize was sacked from the cabinet by Cyril Ramaphosa, who had recently succeeded Zuma as president. She was replaced by Naledi Pandor and retreated to the backbenches of the National Assembly, where she spent several months as an ordinary member of the Portfolio Committee on Basic Education and Portfolio Committee on International Relations and Cooperation. She remained in the chair until after the May 2019 general election. She served in the office until her death in 2021, making her last parliamentary appearance on 19 August 2021 when she cast her vote to elect Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula as the Speaker of the National Assembly. ==Personal life and death==

Mkhize was diagnosed with lung cancer in March 2017, and she was hospitalised on 31 August 2021. President Ramaphosa granted her an official funeral. She was married to Pat Mkhize. They had four children – three daughters and a son – and a grandson. ==References==