Pandor back in the trenches

The new minister for the department of international relations and cooperation (Dirco), Naledi Pandor, is a welcome inclusion in Cabinet.

She was elected to parliament in 1994 and was appointed chairperson of the National Council of Provinces by president Thabo Mbeki in 1999. She served as minister of education from 2004 until 2009 and oversaw a complete overhaul of the education system.

In May 2009, she was appointed minister of science and technology and served as a driving force to host the Square Kilometre Array (SKA) in the Karoo. On October 2, 2012, Jacob Zuma appointed Pandor minister of home affairs.

Following Zuma’s re-election in 2014, she was replaced and returned to the department of science and technology.

Newly appointed Minister of Justice and Correctional Services Ronald Lamola also appears to be the appropriate fit for the role, holding two masters degrees in law.

The former deputy leader of the ANC Youth League has served on the party’s national executive committee since it’s elective conference in 2017 while operating his own law firm in Pretoria. The 36-year-old from Mpumalanga matriculated at Mchachka High School in Bushbuckridge in 2000 and graduated with an LLB degree from the University of Venda in 2005.

He was admitted as an attorney in the high court two years later. After leaving a private law firm where he worked from 2006 to 2009, he moved to government to head up the office of Mpumalanga MEC of culture, sports and recreation and, in 2012, he was the spokesperson of Mpumalanga Premier David Mabuza, now the deputy president.

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