Heads up – Embassy 26 – June 2010

South Africa High Commissioner

Born in 1942 in the Western Cape into a deprived community, High Commissioner Zola Skweyiya was an activist from an early age, protesting against the introduction of Bantu Education in 1953.

He joined the ANC in 1956, where he worked with ANC stalwarts Govan Mbeki and Nelson Mandela. In danger of being arrested in 1963, he went into exile.

He studied law at the University of Leipzig and travelled widely, raising awareness of the struggle for freedom.

Returning from exile in 1990, he was elected to Parliament in 1994.

He joined the Mandela Cabinet as Minister of Public Service and Administration and was moved to the position of Minister of Social Development under President Thabo Mbeki in 1999.

A passionate campaigner against poverty, he has helped to set up the Centre for Development Studies and the South African Legal Defence Fund, both at the University of the Western Cape.

Dr Skweyiya also serves on the board of trustees of the National Commission for the Rights of Children and was elected president of UNESCO’s Management of Social Transformations.