Dr Lindiwe Nonceba Sisulu

Minister of Defence

Date of Birth: 10/05/1954
Place of Birth: Johannesburg

Career: Intelligence specialist, Umkhonto we Sizwe (MK), 1977-79; Teacher, Manzini Central High School, 1981; Lecturer, University of Swaziliand, 1982; Editor Subsidiary, The Times of Swaziliand, 1983; Chief Examiner, History for Junior Certificate Exam, 1985-87; Lecturer, Manzini Teachers Training College, 1985-87; Personal Assistant to African National Congress (ANC) Head of Intelligence, 1990; Chief Administrator, ANC at Convention for a Democratic South Africa, 1991; Consultant, National Children's Rights Committee, UNESCO, 1991; Director, Govan Mbeki Research Fellowship, University of Fort Hare, 1993; Deputy Minister, Department of Home Affairs, 1996-01; Minister of Intelligence, 2001-04; Minister of Housing, 2004-09; Minister of Defence and Military Veterans, 2009 to date.

Commentary: Daughter of the much-loved veterans, Walter and Albertina Sisulu, Lindiwe was brought up in Swaziland. She joined Umkhonto we Sizwe (MK), the ANC's armed wing, in the late 1970s, before returning to South Africa in 1990 to be assistant to Jacob Zuma, the then head of the ANC's intelligence division. She became Deputy Minister of Home Affairs under Inkatha Freedom Party leader, Mangosuthu Buthelezi, her first ministerial appointment. However, the sharp-dressing Sisulu had wanted the Foreign Ministry and was disappointed to be moved to head the Intelligence Ministry in 2001 until appointed in 2004 as Minister of Housing, a job with much influence in the party. She knows most of the skeletons in the ANC's closets and has kept her own reputation clean.
She became Minister of Defence under Zuma and fought hard to have his corruption case squashed. A close Zuma intelligence buddy, she is another candidate for the presidency of the African National Congress when Zuma retires.