Membathisi Mdladlana (born 12 May 1952 in Keiskammahoek, Eastern Cape) is a South African politician. He is the South African High Commissioner to Canada as of November 2012.

Political career

He was the Minister of Labour of South Africa since appointment by Nelson Mandela in 1998 till 2010. A teacher by training, Mdladlana earned a

Bachelor of Arts Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four year ...

from the

University of South Africa The University of South Africa (UNISA), known colloquially as Unisa, is the largest university system in South Africa by enrollment. It attracts a third of all higher education students in South Africa. Through various colleges and affiliates, U ...

in 1997 in education and the

IsiXhosa Xhosa (, ) also isiXhosa as an endonym, is a Nguni language and one of the official languages of South Africa and Zimbabwe. Xhosa is spoken as a first language by approximately 8.2 million people and by another 11 million as a secon ...

language. From 1972 to 1981, Mdladlana was a teacher at Vukukhanye Primary School in

Gugulethu Gugulethu is a township in the Western Cape, South Africa and is 15 km from Cape Town. Its name is a contraction of ''igugu lethu'', which is Xhosa for ''our pride''. The township was established along with Nyanga in the 1960s. History The ...

, a

township A township is a kind of human settlement or administrative subdivision, with its meaning varying in different countries. Although the term is occasionally associated with an urban area, that tends to be an exception to the rule. In Australia, C ...

outside of

Cape Town Cape Town ( af, Kaapstad; , xh, iKapa) is one of South Africa's three capital cities, serving as the seat of the Parliament of South Africa. It is the legislative capital of the country, the oldest city in the country, and the second largest ...

. From 1982 to 1994, he was the principal of Andile Primary School in

Crossroads, Cape Town Crossroads is a high-density township in the Western Cape, South Africa. It is situated near Cape Town International Airport and borders Nyanga, Philippi, Heideveld, Gugulethu and Mitchells Plain. Crossroads is one of greater Cape Town's ...

. In 1994, the Eastern Cape native was elected to the first multi-racial parliament in South African history with the

African National Congress The African National Congress (ANC) is a social-democratic political party in South Africa. A liberation movement known for its opposition to apartheid, it has governed the country since 1994, when the first post-apartheid election install ...

. In 1998, President Nelson Mandela appointed him to the position of Minister of Labour. He has served under four Presidents: Mandela,

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 ...

, Kgalema Motlanthe,Membathisis Mdladlana
at Who's Who SA and Jacob Zuma.

References

1952 births Living people People from Keiskammahoek Xhosa people African National Congress politicians Government ministers of South Africa Members of the National Assembly of South Africa South African schoolteachers University of South Africa alumni High Commissioners of South Africa to Canada {{SouthAfrica-diplomat-stub