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Profile of MEC for Sports, Recreation, Arts and Culture Nelisiwe Mbatha-Mtimkulu
Evaton has always been home to Nelisiwe Mbatha-Mtimkulu, from her youngest days as the last-born of five children, to the present as politician, wife and mother of three.
Mbatha-Mtimkulu matriculated at Residensia Secondary School in Sebokeng and completed a secretarial course, skills which she applied while working in Johannesburg over a 12-year period.
Politics has featured in Mbatha-Mtimkulu's life for as long as she can remember. Her father was imprisoned on Robben Island when she was just 18 months old. She was 19 before she was able to secure documents necessary to visit him. Her inspiration during those years came from Winnie Madikizela-Mandela, who showed her "determination to fight for her rights in any circumstances". Mbatha-Mtimkulu decided on a similar course from the early 1990s, becoming a member of the Congress of South African Students (Cosas) and the South African Textile Union (Satu).
In the years that followed she fulfilled many roles in the ANC structures, including being a membership recruiter of the ANC and election campaign member for the 1994 general elections. She was part of the Executive Committee of Lekoa Vaal Metro from 1995 to 2000, chairing several of its committees. Concurrently, she served on the working groups of the Gauteng Local Government Association (GALA). She has been an executive member of the ANC Women's League since 1991. In 2000 she was appointed Speaker of Sedibeng District Municipality and chaired the District's Council and its Gender, Rules of Order and Moral Regeneration committees, as well as its Speaker's Forum, which are portfolios she retained until September 2007.
Mbatha-Mtimkulu was Gauteng EXCO member and Chairperson of the Governance and the Election committees within the South African Local Government Association (Salga). Arriving at the Legislature in 2007, Nelly joined the Standing Committee on Public Accounts, and the Local Government and the Community Safety committees.
Her many qualifications include courses in change management, local government, dispute resolution, protocol, financial management and executive leadership.
With such a wide range of duties, it is not surprising that her nickname at home is 'Meeting'.
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