Cheryl Carolus (born 27 May 1958) is a South African

politician A politician is a person who participates in Public policy, policy-making processes, usually holding an elective position in government. Politicians represent the people, make decisions, and influence the formulation of public policy. The roles ...

. She was born in

Silvertown Silvertown is a district of West Ham in the London Borough of Newham, in east London, England. It lies on the north bank of the River Thames, Thames and was historically part of the parishes of West Ham and East Ham, Becontree Hundred, hund ...

, on the

Cape Flats The Cape Flats () is an expansive, low-lying, flat area situated to the southeast of the central business district of Cape Town. The Cape Flats is also the name of an administrative region of the City of Cape Town, which lies within the larger geo ...

Cape Town Cape Town is the legislature, legislative capital city, capital of South Africa. It is the country's oldest city and the seat of the Parliament of South Africa. Cape Town is the country's List of municipalities in South Africa, second-largest ...

. Carolus became involved in

politics Politics () is the set of activities that are associated with decision-making, making decisions in social group, groups, or other forms of power (social and political), power relations among individuals, such as the distribution of Social sta ...

while still at school and became an activist after joining the United Democratic Front in 1983. In May 1990, Carolus was elected to be part of the

African National Congress The African National Congress (ANC) is a political party in South Africa. It originated as a liberation movement known for its opposition to apartheid and has governed the country since 1994, when the 1994 South African general election, fir ...

' delegation which held talks with the

apartheid Apartheid ( , especially South African English: , ; , ) was a system of institutionalised racial segregation that existed in South Africa and South West Africa (now Namibia) from 1948 to the early 1990s. It was characterised by an ...

government and in July 1991, she was elected to the ANC's National Executive Committee. She was married to Graeme Bloch, who died in 2021. In 1998, she became South Africa's High Commissioner in London, until 2001. Between 2001 and 2004, she was the chief executive officer of South African Tourism. She was the Board Chairperson for South African National Parks (SANPARKS), and in 2009, she assumed this position at

South African Airways South African Airways (SAA) is the flag carrier of South Africa. Founded in 1929 as Union Airways it later rebranded to South African Airways in 1934, the airline is headquartered in Airways Park at O. R. Tambo International Airport in Johannes ...

. She is also chairperson of Peotona Holdings, an investment company that deals with business development. Carolus is a member of the Executive Committee of the

International Crisis Group The International Crisis Group (ICG; also known as the Crisis Group) is a global non-profit, non-governmental organisation founded in 1995. It is a think tank, used by policymakers and academics, conducting research and analysis on global crises. ...

. In 2015, she was a Trustee of the

British Museum The British Museum is a Museum, public museum dedicated to human history, art and culture located in the Bloomsbury area of London. Its permanent collection of eight million works is the largest in the world. It documents the story of human cu ...

. On 5 May 2018, the bodies of her husband's (Graeme Bloch) parents were discovered in Cape Town. They had been tied up and murdered.

References

External links

* http://www.whoswhosa.co.za/Pages/profilefull.aspx?IndID=4603 1958 births Living people Cape Coloureds High commissioners of South Africa to the United Kingdom South African women ambassadors Members of the African National Congress Politicians from Cape Town Trustees of the British Museum {{SouthAfrica-diplomat-stub