Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula

Minister of Correctional Services

Date of Birth: 13/11/1956
Place of Birth: Cape Town

Biography: Youth Worker, Target Timothy 1981-82; Assistant Director, Masazane Open School, 1982-84; Activist, African National Congress (ANC), Political Military Structures, 1986-88; Representative, ANC Women's Section to Pan Africa Women's Organisation (PAWO), 1988-90; National Organiser, ANC Women's League, 1991-93; Secretary General, ANC Women's League, 1993-95; Deputy Minister, Home Affairs, 2002-04; Minister, Home Affairs, 2004-09; Minister of Correctional Services, 2009 to date.

Commentary: Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula received some military training in Angola and the Soviet Union in the 1980s and was a member of political and military structures whilst in the Soviet Union. She is the wife of Charles Nqakula, former Minister of Defence and Political Advisor to the Presidency who was close to President Mbeki. Her ministerial performance in the Home Affairs department was unimpressive but she remains an upwardly mobile figure in the ANC.