Mbeki names new deputy
Shaun Benton
23 June 2005
Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka, who has been serving in the Cabinet as minister of minerals and energy, has been appointed South Africa's new deputy president.
Following a meeting with Cabinet, President Thabo Mbeki announced this and three other appointments in Cape Town on Wednesday.
"We felt that this ... would give us an opportunity further to strengthen the participation of women in the executive and that's part of what influenced the decisions that we took," Mbeki said.
Mlambo-Ngcuka became a Member of Parliament in 1994 and was appointed deputy minister of trade and industry in 1996 before becoming minister of minerals and energy in 1999.
Lindiwe Hendricks, who has been serving as deputy minister of trade and industry since April last year, becomes the new minister of minerals and energy.
President Mbeki said that following discussions with Trade and Industry Minister Mandisi Mpahlwa about the critical role this department plays
in alleviating poverty and boosting development, it was agreed that it would be strengthened by increasing the number of deputy ministers in the ministry to two.
These are to be Rob Davies and Elizabeth Thabethe.
Davies has been an African National Congress (ANC) Member of Parliament since 1994, and since June 2004 has served as chairperson of the National Assembly's portfolio committee on finance
Thabethe was chairperson of the National Assembly's portfolio committee on environmental affairs and tourism. A member of the national executive committee of the ANC since 1997, she is currently deputy chairperson of the ANC Women's League in Gauteng province.
Source: BuaNews
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