The Republic of South Africa is a unitary parliamentary democratic republic. The President of South Africa serves both as head of state and as head of government. The President is elected by the National Assembly and must retain the confidence of the Assembly in order to remain in office. South Africans also elect provincial legislatures which govern each of the country's nine provinces.
Walter Max Ulyate Sisulu was a South African anti-apartheid activist and member of the African National Congress (ANC). Between terms as ANC Secretary-General (1949–1954) and ANC Deputy President (1991–1994), he was incarcerated on Robben Island, where he served more than 25 years' imprisonment for his activism. He is known for his close partnership with Oliver Tambo and Nelson Mandela, with whom he played a key role in organising the 1952 Defiance Campaign and the establishment of the ANC Youth League and Umkhonto we Sizwe. He was also on the Central Committee of the South African Communist Party.
Nontsikelelo Albertina Sisulu was a South African anti-apartheid activist, and the wife of fellow activist Walter Sisulu (1912–2003). She was affectionately known as "Ma Sisulu" throughout her lifetime by the South African public. In 2004 she was voted 57th in the SABC3's Great South Africans. She died on 2 June 2011 in her home in Linden, Johannesburg, South Africa, aged 92.
Oliver Reginald Kaizana Tambo was a South African anti-apartheid politician and revolutionary who served as President of the African National Congress (ANC) from 1967 to 1991.
Ahmed Mohamed Kathrada, sometimes known by the nickname "Kathy", was a South African politician and anti-apartheid activist.
Walter Sisulu University (WSU) is a university of technology and science located in Mthatha, East London, Butterworth and Komani (Queenstown) in the Eastern Cape, South Africa, which came into existence on 1 July 2005 as a result of a merger between Border Technikon, Eastern Cape Technikon and the University of Transkei. The university is named after Walter Sisulu, a prominent figure in the struggle against apartheid.
Zweledinga Pallo Jordan is a South African politician. He was a member of the National Executive Committee of the African National Congress, and was a cabinet minister from 1994 until 2009.
Nomaindiya Mfeketo is a South African politician who served as Minister of Human Settlements from 2018 to 2019, Deputy Minister of International Relations and Cooperation, Deputy Speaker of the National Assembly of South Africa from 2009 to 2014, and mayor of Cape Town from 1998 to 2000 and again from 2002 to 2006. Mfeketo presently serves as Ambassador of South Africa to the United States.
Lindiwe Nonceba Sisulu is a South African politician, member of parliament since 1994, and member of the National Executive Committee of the African National Congress currently serving as Minister of Tourism since August 2021. She previously served as Minister of Housing, Minister of Defence and Military Veterans, Minister of Public Service and Administration from 2012 to 2014. and Minister of Human Settlements, Water & Sanitation from 2014 to 2021.
The 25th South African Parliament was the fourth Parliament of South Africa to convene since the introduction of non-racial government in South Africa in 1994. It was elected in the general election of 22 April 2009, and first met on 6 May of that year to elect Jacob Zuma as the fourth President of South Africa. It was formally opened by the newly elected President's State of the Nation address in a joint sitting on 3 June 2009. The ANC retained its majority, although it was reduced to 264 seats out of 400 (66%) in the National Assembly, while the Democratic Alliance increased its lead of the opposition, taking 67 seats (16.75%). The Speaker of the National Assembly was Max Sisulu of the ANC and the Chairperson of the National Council of Provinces was M. J. Mahlangu, also of the ANC.
Cedric Thomas Frolick, is the current House Chairperson: Committees, Oversight and ICT in the National Assembly of Parliament for the Republic of South Africa. A teacher, politician, anti-apartheid activist. He retired from teaching in 1999 and subsequently became a politician in the National Assembly. On 18 November 2010, the ANC appointed him as the House Chairperson responsible for Committees, ICT and Oversight.
Zwelakhe Sisulu was a South African black journalist, editor, and newspaper founder. He was president of the Writers' Association of South Africa, which later became the Black Media Workers Association of South Africa, and he led a year-long strike in 1980 for fair wages for black journalists. He was a victim of the Apartheid-era government in South Africa and was imprisoned at least three times for his journalism. After Apartheid ended, he became the chief executive officer of the South African Broadcast Corporation.
Thandi Modise is a South African politician who is currently serving as the Minister of Defence and Military Veterans. She was previously the Premier of the North West from 2010 to 2014, Chairperson of the National Council of Provinces from 2014 to 2019, and Speaker of the National Assembly from 2019 to 2021.
Lindiwe Daphney Zulu is South Africa's Minister of Social Development.
Ntombi Lentheng Mekgwe is a South African politician who has been Speaker of the Gauteng Provincial Legislature since 2014. Before that, she was a Member of the Executive Council (MEC) in the Gauteng provincial government from 2010 to 2014 and the third Mayor of Ekurhuleni from 2008 to 2010. She is a member of the African National Congress (ANC).
Mothibedi Gordon Kegakilwe was a South African politician and a party member of the African National Congress. He served as the North West MEC for Cooperative Governance, Human Settlement and Traditional Affairs from May 2019 until his death in July 2020.
Tshoganetso Mpho Adolphina Tongwane was a South African politician. An African National Congress member, she was appointed to the National Assembly in 2008. She was elected to a full term in parliament at the 2009 election. She served until the 2014 election when she lost her seat. Tongwane returned to parliament a few weeks later, filling the seat of former speaker Max Sisulu. She lost her seat again at the 2019 election, only to be appointed back to parliament a couple of weeks later.
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.
Dina Pule is a South African politician who was Minister of Communications under President Jacob Zuma from October 2011 to July 2013. She was fired during a parliamentary inquiry into allegations that she had contravened the parliamentary code of conduct. The allegations were ultimately substantiated by Parliament's Joint Committee on Ethics and Members' Interests and by the Public Protector, leading Parliament to suspend and reprimand Pule.
Michael Collen Sedibe is a South African politician who is currently a Member of the Mpumalanga Provincial Legislature and the provincial leader of the legislature's official opposition party, the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF). He joined the EFF in 2013 after he was expelled from the African National Congress and he was first elected to the provincial legislature in the 2014 general election. In September 2022, he was elected to a third term as the EFF's Provincial Chairperson in Mpumalanga.
