H.E. Naledi Pandor

Her Excellency Naledi Pandor is South Africa's Minister of Home Affairs. Her grandfather, Z. K. Matthews, an anthropologist and lawyer, played a prominent role in African political history. Her father's political activism led to his long exile, which provided Naledi Pandor with the opportunity to receive an international education.

Mrs Pandor received a B.A. degree from the University of Botswana and Swaziland and an M.A. in education from the University of London. In 1997, while serving as an MP, she received a second MA in linguistics from the University of Stellenbosch, South Africa. She was the first woman chancellor of the Cape Technikon which later merged with Peninsula Technikon in 2005 to form the Cape Peninsula University of Technology in Cape Town.

Mrs. Pandor has played a leading role in South African politics and education policy planning and reform. She was elected to parliament in 1994 and served as Deputy Chief Whip of the African National Congress (ANC) in the National Assembly from 1995 to 1998. She became Deputy Chairperson of the National Council of Provinces in 1998 and served as Chairperson from 1999 to 2004. Mrs. Pandor became Minister of Education in 2004, then Minister of Science and Technology in 2009, a position she held until she was appointed to her current post in October 2012.