Ivy Florence Matsepe-Casaburri (18 September 1937 – 6 April 2009) was a South African

politician A politician is a person active in party politics, or a person holding or seeking an elected office in government. Politicians propose, support, reject and create laws that govern the land and by an extension of its people. Broadly speaking ...

. She was the second premier of the Free State and South Africa's Minister of Communications from 1999 until her death. She served briefly as South Africa's acting president in 2005, when both President Thabo Mbeki and the deputy president were outside the country. Furthermore, she was chosen by the cabinet to be the constitutional and official head of state in an interim capacity for 14 hours on 25 September 2008, between the resignation of

Thabo Mbeki Thabo Mvuyelwa Mbeki KStJ (; born 18 June 1942) is a South African politician who was the second president of South Africa from 14 June 1999 to 24 September 2008, when he resigned at the request of his party, the African National Congress (ANC ...

and the taking of office by Kgalema Motlanthe. She was the first woman to have held the post of president in South Africa and the first woman to be head of state of South Africa since

Elizabeth II Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary; 21 April 1926 – 8 September 2022) was Queen of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms from 6 February 1952 until her death in 2022. She was queen regnant of 32 sovereign states during ...

's reign as

Queen of South Africa From 1910 to 1961, the Union of South Africa was a self-governing country that shared a monarch with the United Kingdom and the other Dominions of the British Empire. The monarch's constitutional roles were mostly delegated to the governor-gene ...

ended in 1961. She remained the only woman with this distinction until July 2021, when

Angie Motshekga Matsie Angelina "Angie" Motshekga (born 19 June 1955) is a South African politician and educator, serving as the Minister of Basic Education since May 2009. She was also appointed as an acting president of the Republic of South Africa on 2 July ...

was appointed acting president.

Early life

Ivy Matsepe-Casaburri was born on 18 September 1937 in

Kroonstad Kroonstad (Afrikaans directly translated "Crown City") is the third largest city in the Free State (after Bloemfontein and Welkom) and lies two hours' drive on the N1 from Gauteng. Maokeng is an area within Kroonstad, and is occasionally used ...

in the Free State. Her father was a principal, musician and sportsman and her mother was a teacher, and a social and community worker. She completed her primary education in Kroonstad and attended secondary school in

Kwa-Zulu Natal KwaZulu-Natal (, also referred to as KZN and known as "the garden province") is a province of South Africa that was created in 1994 when the Zulu bantustan of KwaZulu ("Place of the Zulu" in Zulu) and Natal Province were merged. It is locate ...

. She then obtained her Bachelor of Arts degree from

Fort Hare University The University of Fort Hare is a public university in Alice, Eastern Cape, South Africa. It was a key institution of higher education for Africans from 1916 to 1959 when it offered a Western-style academic education to students from across sub ...

and proceeded to teach in KZN for two years.

Exile

At the age of 28, she went into exile and would return to South Africa only 25 years later. She first worked in Swaziland as a teacher for at least ten years before she moved to the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

. During her time in exile, she furthered her education. She went to the

where she undertook her postgraduate studies. She worked for the

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be a centre for harmoniz ...

Institute for

Namibia Namibia (, ), officially the Republic of Namibia, is a country in Southern Africa. Its western border is the Atlantic Ocean. It shares land borders with Zambia and Angola to the north, Botswana to the east and South Africa to the south and ea ...

as a lecturer and registrar, based in

Zimbabwe Zimbabwe (), officially the Republic of Zimbabwe, is a landlocked country located in Southeast Africa, between the Zambezi and Limpopo Rivers, bordered by South Africa to the south, Botswana to the south-west, Zambia to the north, and ...

. She obtained her PhD in sociology from

Rutgers University-New Brunswick Rutgers University (; RU), officially Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, is a public land-grant research university consisting of four campuses in New Jersey. Chartered in 1766, Rutgers was originally called Queen's College, and was a ...

Professional life

She served briefly as South Africa's acting president in 2005, when both President Thabo Mbeki and the deputy president were outside the country. Furthermore, she was chosen by the cabinet to be the constitutional and official head of state in an interim capacity for 14 hours on 25 September 2008, between the resignation of

and the taking of office by Kgalema Motlanthe. She was the first and to date only woman to have held the post of president in South Africa and the first woman to be head of state of South Africa since

's reign as

in 1961.

Offices held

*Minister of Communications in the South African Government from June 1999 to April 2009 *Member of Parliament in the National Assembly from 1999 to 2009 *Premier of the Free State from 1996 to 1999; first female premier *Chairperson of

Sentech Sentech is the signal distributor for the South African broadcasting sector. Background Sentech began operations in 1992 as the signal distributor of the South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC). Sentech's mandate also included providi ...

, the first black person and woman *Chairperson of the South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC); the first female and black chairperson *Lecturer at

Rutgers University Rutgers University (; RU), officially Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, is a public land-grant research university consisting of four campuses in New Jersey. Chartered in 1766, Rutgers was originally called Queen's College, and was ...

*Associate professor at Rutgers University *Senior lecturer and registrar at the United Nations Institute for Namibia *Director for Council for Scientific and Industrial Research

Death

She died of natural causes on 6 April 2009 during her term in office as the Minister of Communications.

References

External links

*
Matsepe-Casaburri dies in hospital
– Obituary , - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Matsepe-Casaburri, Ivy 1937 births 2009 deaths 20th-century South African women politicians 20th-century South African politicians African National Congress politicians Communications ministers of South Africa Women heads of government of non-sovereign entities Members of the National Assembly of South Africa Premiers of the Free State (province) Rutgers University alumni University of Fort Hare alumni Women government ministers of South Africa Members of the Free State Provincial Legislature