Mavivi Myakayaka-Manzini

Last updated
Mavivi Myakayaka-Manzini
BraamManzini1989.jpg
Myakayaka-Manzini (right) with Conny Braam in February 1989
High Commissioner to Malawi
of the Republic of South Africa
Assumed office
2022

Mavivi Myakayaka-Manzini (born 19 January 1956), also known as Mavivi Manzini, is a South African politician and diplomat who is currently the South African High Commissioner to Malawi. She was a member of the National Executive Committee of the African National Congress (ANC) between 1994 and 2007 and she was deputy president of the ANC Women's League between 2003 and 2008. During apartheid, she worked in exile in the secretariat of the ANC's women's section; in the 2000s, after one term in the national Parliament (1994–1999), she headed the ANC's international relations desk.

Contents

Early life and education

Yvette Lillian Mavivi Myakayaka was born on 19 January 1956 [1] [2] in Alexandra on the outskirts of Johannesburg in what was then the Transvaal (now Gauteng province) and spent most of her childhood in Soweto. [3] [4] Her parents were teachers and were members of the African National Congress (ANC) until it was banned by the apartheid government in 1960. [3] [4] As a child, between roughly age four and age six, she was hospitalised with polio and was left disabled, with a permanent limp. [3] [4] [5] She became politically active as a teenager in about 1973, joining the Black Consciousness-aligned South African Students' Movement while still in high school. After her arrival at the University of the North (Turfloop) in 1975, she was active in the South African Students' Organisation, which was banned on the campus at the time. [3] [4] Also around 1975, she became involved in the ANC underground, helping to establish a covert ANC unit on the Turfloop campus which assisted members of the ANC's armed wing, Umkhonto weSizwe, in particular with reconnaissance. [3] [4]

The Soweto uprising began in the middle of Myakayaka-Mavivi's second year in 1976 and she was detained in July for her political activity. In October 1976, after two months in detention, she left South Africa via Botswana [3] to avoid further security police attention and join the ANC in exile. [4] She studied political science, sociology, and development studies at the University of Zambia and received a Bachelor's degree in 1979. [3] [6] Later, in 1989, [1] she received a Master's degree in development studies, specialising in gender and development, from the Institute of Social Studies in the Hague, the Netherlands. [3] [5]

Early political career

After receiving her Bachelor's, Myakayaka-Manzini became a full-time member of the secretariat of the Women's Section of the ANC, then based in Lusaka, Zambia. [3] [7] From 1981 she was editor of the Voice of Women magazine, the primary propaganda organ of the Women's Section, working alongside Marion Sparg and others. [8] She also broadcast on the ANC's Radio Freedom [1] and was a founding member of the Congress of African Women, later known as the Pan African Women's Congress. [9] After completing her Master's in the Netherlands, she moved to Tanzania, where her husband was the ANC's chief representative. [1]

When the ANC was unbanned by the South African government in 1990, Myakayaka-Manzini returned to South Africa and worked at the Centre for Applied Legal Studies at the University of the Witwatersrand, conducting research on gender-related topics. [1] From 1990 to 1992, she also headed the Johannesburg branch of the ANC Women's League, which was then being re-established inside South Africa. [3] From 1992, she was a member of the ANC delegation to the negotiations that ended apartheid and devised a new post-apartheid constitution; she and Baleka Mbete represented the Women's League on the delegation. [5] In 1993 and 1994, she was a member of the sub-council on the status of women in the multi-party Transitional Executive Council that oversaw the transition away from apartheid. [1]

In 1997, Myakayaka-Manzini applied for amnesty from the Truth and Reconciliation Commission in relation to her work for the ANC in exile. Hers was part of a batch of applications submitted jointly by the ANC on behalf of a group of members and leaders who collectively took responsibility for policy decisions that they acknowledged had led to human rights violations committed by ANC cadres. The commission refused amnesty to her and the other applicants on the grounds that they had not disclosed any specific act, in which they individually had been involved, for which they would be required to seek amnesty. [10]

Post-apartheid career

In South Africa's first fully democratic election in 1994, Myakayaka-Manzini was elected as a Member of Parliament, representing the ANC. [3] In 1996 she was appointed a parliamentary counsellor [11] and she was described as "Thabo Mbeki's 'eyes and ears' in parliament" while Mbeki was national deputy president. [12] [13] She left Parliament in 1999, in her account because, once the new Constitution had been finalised, she "felt like I have done my job". [5] She took up work at the international relations desk at Luthuli House, the ANC's new headquarters; [5] she was head of the desk by 2000 and remained in that position in October 2007. [14] [15] [11]

Simultaneously, Myakayaka-Manzini served three consecutive terms on the ANC National Executive Committee, gaining election in 1994 (ranked 55th of 60 elected candidates), [16] in 1997 (ranked 43rd), [17] and in 2002 (ranked 34th). [18] In 1997, she also ran unsuccessfully for election as ANC Deputy Secretary-General; it was understood that her candidacy was supported by Mbeki, who was then the Deputy President of South Africa, but she was narrowly beaten by the more left-wing candidate, Thenjiwe Mtintso, earning 1,172 votes to Mtintso's 1,398. [19] [20] In 2007, at the party conference which also removed Mbeki from the ANC presidency, Myakayaka-Manzini lost her seat on the National Executive Committee; [21] she had stood for re-election but did not achieve enough votes.

She remained active in activism for women and was a senior member of the ANC Women's League. Having first gained a seat on the National Executive Committee of the Women's League in 1999, she was deputy president of the league from 2003 to 2008. [2] [22] She became the inaugural spokesperson of the Progressive Women's Movement of South Africa when it was launched in July 2006. [23]

In 2010, Baleka Mbete, by then the national chairperson of the ANC, said that she lobbied for Myakayaka-Manzini to become Director-General in the new Department of Women, Youth, Children and Persons with Disabilities, but that Myakayaka-Manzini had been earmarked for a diplomatic role. [24] Thus she was the South African High Commissioner to Namibia from April 2012 to December 2017. [5] In 2020 she was appointed to the board of the South African Post Office. [25] She also remained involved in the ANC; she was appointed to the seven-member appeals committee of the party's Integrity Commission in 2021. [26] In September 2022, the government announced her appointment as South African High Commissioner to Malawi. [27] [28]

Personal life

Myakayaka-Manzi was married to Manala Manzini, a former Director-General of the National Intelligence Agency, until around 2007. [29] Their marriage was allegedly abusive, which Myakayaka-Manzi spoke about publicly after Manzini was quoted in the media claiming that he used to beat Manzini for refusing to do domestic work. [30] [29] [11] [31] They had at least one child, a daughter, together. [29]

Selected bibliography

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">African National Congress</span> Political party in South Africa

The African National Congress (ANC) is a social-democratic political party in South Africa. A liberation movement known for its opposition to apartheid, it has governed the country since 1994, when the first post-apartheid election installed Nelson Mandela as President of South Africa. Cyril Ramaphosa, the incumbent national President, has served as President of the ANC since 18 December 2017.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Thabo Mbeki</span> President of South Africa from 1999 to 2008

Thabo Mvuyelwa Mbeki is a South African politician who served as the second president of South Africa from 14 June 1999 to 24 September 2008, when he resigned at the request of his party, the African National Congress (ANC). Before that, he was deputy president under Nelson Mandela from 1994 to 1999.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Defiance Campaign</span> Defiance campaign in 1952

The Defiance Campaign against Unjust Laws was presented by the African National Congress (ANC) at a conference held in Bloemfontein, South Africa in December 1951. The Campaign had roots in events leading up the conference. The demonstrations, taking place in 1952, were the first "large-scale, multi-racial political mobilization against apartheid laws under a common leadership."

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Baleka Mbete</span> South African politician

Baleka Mbete is a South African politician who was the Deputy President of South Africa from September 2008 to May 2009. She was also the Speaker of the National Assembly for two non-consecutive terms from 2004 to 2008 and from 2014 to 2019. A member of the African National Congress (ANC), she was first elected to the National Assembly in 1994 and stepped down from her seat in 2019.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Thoko Didiza</span> South African politician

Angela Thokozile Didiza 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.

Brigitte Sylvia Mabandla is a South African politician, lawyer and former anti-apartheid activist who served in the cabinet of South Africa from 2003 to 2009, including as the Minister of Justice and Constitutional Development from 2004 to 2008. She became the South African Ambassador to Sweden in January 2020. A veteran of the African National Congress (ANC), she was an elected member of party's National Executive Committee between 1997 and 2012.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Geraldine Fraser-Moleketi</span> South African politician (born 1960)

Geraldine Joslyn Fraser-Moleketi is a South African politician who was the Minister of Public Service and Administration from June 1999 to September 2008. Before that, from July 1996 to June 1999, she was Minister of Welfare and Population Development. She represented the African National Congress (ANC) in the National Assembly from 1994 to 2008 and is a former deputy chairperson of the South African Communist Party (SACP).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">African National Congress Women's League</span> Political party

The African National Congress Women's League (ANCWL) is an auxiliary women's political organization of the African National Congress (ANC) of South Africa. This organization has its precedent in the Bantu Women's League, and it oscillated from being the Women's Section to the Women's League from its founding, through the exile years, and in a post-apartheid South Africa. After women were allowed to become members of the ANC in 1943, the ANCWL was created as the means by which Black South African women could contribute to the national liberation struggle by channeling Black women's political activity into the ANC by way of the ANCWL.

The 52nd National Conference of the African National Congress (ANC) was held in Polokwane, Limpopo, from 16 to 20 December 2007. At the conference, Jacob Zuma and his supporters were elected to the party's top leadership and National Executive Committee (NEC), dealing a significant defeat to national President Thabo Mbeki, who had sought a third term in the ANC presidency. The conference was a precursor to the general election of 2009, which the ANC was extremely likely to win and which did indeed lead to Zuma's ascension to the presidency of South Africa. Mbeki was prohibited from serving a third term as national President but, if re-elected ANC President, could likely have leveraged that office to select his successor.

The National Executive Committee (NEC) of the African National Congress (ANC) is the party's chief executive organ. It is elected every five years at the party’s national conference; the executive committee, in turn, elects a National Working Committee for day-to-day decision-making responsibilities. At the NEC's head is the president of the ANC, and it also contains the other so-called "Top Seven" leaders : the deputy president, chairperson, secretary-general, two deputy secretaries-general and treasurer-general.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">History of the African National Congress</span> Aspect of South African political history

The African National Congress (ANC) has been the governing party of the Republic of South Africa since 1994. The ANC was founded on 8 January 1912 in Bloemfontein and is the oldest liberation movement in Africa.

The 50th National Conference of the African National Congress (ANC) took place from 16 to 20 December 1997 at the University of the North West in what was then called Mafikeng. Attended by 3,000 voting delegates, the conference elected a successor to outgoing ANC President Nelson Mandela, who declined to stand for another term. Thabo Mbeki was elected unopposed, and Jacob Zuma was elected unopposed as his deputy; they were later elected President and Deputy President of the country in the 1999 general elections, in which the ANC won 66.35% of the vote, up from 62.65% in 1994.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pregs Govender</span> South African human rights activist

Pregaluxmi "Pregs" Govender is a South African human rights activist, author, and politician.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Candith Mashego-Dlamini</span>

Kwati Candith Mashego-Dlamini is a South African politician from Mpumalanga. She has been the Deputy Minister of International Relations and Cooperation since May 2019, and she formerly served as Deputy Minister of Rural Development and Land Reform from 2014 to 2019.

Thenjiwe Mtintso is a South African anti-apartheid activist, politician and ambassador who has held senior positions within the African National Congress (ANC), the South African Communist Party (SACP), and is a veteran of uMkhonto we Sizwe (MK).

Sankie Dolly Mthembi-Mahanyele, formerly known as Sankie Mthembi-Nkondo or Sankie Nkondo, is a South African politician, diplomat, and former anti-apartheid activist. She was the Minister of Housing from 1995 to 2003 and served as Deputy Secretary-General of the African National Congress (ANC) from 2002 to 2007.

The 48th National Conference of the African National Congress (ANC) took place from 2 to 7 July 1991 at the University of Durban–Westville in Durban, KwaZulu-Natal. It was the first national conference of the ANC since the organisation was banned by the apartheid government in 1960 and marked the ascension of Nelson Mandela to the ANC presidency, which since 1967 had been held by Oliver Tambo.

Happy Joyce Mashamba was a South African politician and veteran of the African National Congress (ANC). At the time of her death, she was Member of the Executive Council (MEC) for Agriculture and Rural Development in the provincial government of Limpopo. She was also a member of the Central Committee of the South African Communist Party and a former member of the ANC National Executive Committee and the ANC Women's League National Executive Committee.

Rejoice Thizwilondi Mabudafhasi is a South African politician who represented the African National Congress (ANC) in the National Assembly from 1994 until her resignation in April 2017. She was appointed as South Africa's Ambassador to Zimbabwe in 2021.

Lyndall Fanisa Shope-Mafole is a South African politician and former civil servant who was the general secretary of the Congress of the People (COPE) from 2014 to 2019. She led COPE's caucus in the Gauteng Provincial Legislature from 2009 until 2014, when she failed to gain re-election.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Kagan, Rachel (1994). ANC Women Candidates in South Africa's Liberation Election (PDF). Africa Fund.
  2. 1 2 "Mavivi Myakayaka-Manzini". Our Constitution. Retrieved 27 November 2022.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 "Mavivi Myakayaka-Manzini". South African History Online. 30 August 2013. Retrieved 27 November 2022.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Russell, Diana (1987). "Interview with Mavivi Myakayaka-Manzini". Alexander Street. Retrieved 27 November 2022.
  5. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Msweli, Bongiwe (2019). "In the spotlight: Mavivi Manzini" (PDF). ANC Today: 14.
  6. ↑ Macmillan, Hugh (2014). "The University Of Zambia and the Liberation of Southern Africa, 1966–90". Journal of Southern African Studies. 40 (5): 943–959. doi:10.1080/03057070.2014.946216. ISSN   0305-7070. JSTOR   24566707. S2CID   144320655.
  7. ↑ Russell, Diana E. H. (1989). Lives of Courage: Women for a New South Africa. Basic Books. pp. 127–129. ISBN   978-0-595-29139-7.
  8. ↑ Hassim, Shireen (2004). "Nationalism, Feminism and Autonomy: The ANC in Exile and the Question of Women". Journal of Southern African Studies. 30 (3): 433–455. doi:10.1080/0305707042000254056. ISSN   0305-7070. JSTOR   4133903. S2CID   143070403.
  9. ↑ "New Struggle". Sowetan. 21 February 2008. Retrieved 27 November 2022.
  10. ↑ "Amnesty Decision Yvette Lillian Mavivi Myakayaka-Manzini AC/99/0112". Truth Commission Special Report. 31 March 1999. Retrieved 27 November 2022.
  11. 1 2 3 "NIA boss in abuse claim". The Mail & Guardian. 25 October 2007. Retrieved 27 November 2022.
  12. ↑ Lodge, Tom (1998). "The ANC's 50th Conference: A House of Many Mansions?". Southern Africa Report. 13 (2). Archived from the original on 14 July 2014.
  13. ↑ "New left bloc battles for the ANC's soul". The Mail & Guardian. 19 December 1997. Retrieved 27 November 2022.
  14. ↑ Amupadhi, Tangeni (26 April 2000). "Nujoma Succession Report Is Questioned". Namibian. Retrieved 27 November 2022.
  15. ↑ Morris, Michael (25 October 2002). "'What! R3 000 just to sit with the ANC?'". IOL. Retrieved 27 November 2022.
  16. ↑ "49th National Conference: National Executive Committee Voting Results". ANC. Archived from the original on 9 November 2021. Retrieved 4 December 2021.
  17. ↑ "50th National Conference: NEC Election Results". ANC. 10 November 2014. Archived from the original on 10 November 2014. Retrieved 10 December 2021.
  18. ↑ Motlanthe, Kgalema (17 December 2007). "Organisational Report to the 52nd National Conference". ANC. Archived from the original on 9 November 2021. Retrieved 10 December 2021.
  19. ↑ "Who is ... THENJIWE MTINTSO?". The Mail & Guardian. 23 January 1998. Retrieved 10 December 2021.
  20. ↑ Laurence, Patrick (19 December 1997). "ANC elects a 'nice guy' to chair". The Irish Times. Retrieved 10 December 2021.
  21. ↑ "ANC releases consolidated nominations list". Polity. 7 December 2007. Archived from the original on 29 June 2011. Retrieved 9 December 2021.
  22. ↑ "'Justice will be done in Goniwe case'". IOL. 21 May 2007. Retrieved 27 November 2022.
  23. ↑ Mbongwa, Linda (20 July 2006). "Women launch new body to tackle challenges". IOL. Retrieved 27 November 2022.
  24. ↑ Malefane, Moipone (5 September 2010). "'Sexism to blame for attack on minister'". Sunday Times. Retrieved 27 November 2022.
  25. ↑ Quintal, Genevieve (27 August 2020). "New Post Office board members appointed amid leadership battle". Business Day. Retrieved 27 November 2022.
  26. ↑ Maeko, Thando (21 July 2021). "ANC hands names of members fuelling violence to police". Business Day. Retrieved 27 November 2022.
  27. ↑ "South Africa appoints 11 new ambassadors". Africa Intelligence. 19 September 2022. Retrieved 27 November 2022.
  28. ↑ Botomani, Wadza (31 October 2022). "New South African High Commissioner presents letters to President Chakwera". 247Malawi News. Retrieved 27 November 2022.
  29. 1 2 3 Msibi, Thabo (2011). "They are worried about me: I am also worried". Agenda: Empowering Women for Gender Equity. 25 (1 (87)): 22–28. doi:10.1080/10130950.2011.575578. ISSN   1013-0950. JSTOR   41321396. S2CID   142301644.
  30. ↑ Balogun, Jumoke (7 November 2012). "Why Numbers Aren't Enough: Challenges to Gender Equity in South Africa". Africa at LSE. Retrieved 27 November 2022.
  31. ↑ "Minding the ANC gender gap". The Mail & Guardian. 23 September 2010. Retrieved 27 November 2022.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.