Cheryl Ellen Gillwald (13 December 1956 – 27 July 2010) was a South African politician. A member 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 ...

, she was elected as a member of the

Senate of South Africa The Senate was the upper house of the Parliament of South Africa between 1910 and its abolition from 1 January 1981, and between 1994 and 1997. 1910–1981 Under white minority rule in the Union of South Africa, most of the senators were chosen ...

in 1994. In 1997 she became a member of the

South African National Assembly The National Assembly is the directly elected house of the Parliament of South Africa, located in Cape Town, Western Cape. It consists of four hundred Members of Parliament, members who are elected every five years using a party-list proportio ...

where she served until her resignation from public office in 2006. Gillwald was appointed Deputy Minister of Justice in 1999 before becoming Deputy Minister of Correctional Services in 2004.

Early life and education

Gillwald was born on 13 December 1956 in

Welkom Welkom () is a city in the Free State (province), Free State province of South Africa, located about northeast of Bloemfontein, the provincial capital. Welkom is also known as Circle City, City Within A Garden, Mvela and Matjhabeng. The city' ...

in what was then the

Orange Free State Province The Province of the Orange Free State (), commonly referred to as the Orange Free State (), Free State () or by its abbreviation OFS, was one of the four provinces of South Africa from 1910 to 1994. After 27 April 1994 it was dissolved following ...

of the

Union of South Africa The Union of South Africa (; , ) was the historical predecessor to the present-day South Africa, Republic of South Africa. It came into existence on 31 May 1910 with the unification of the British Cape Colony, Cape, Colony of Natal, Natal, Tra ...

. She attended Roedean School for Girls in

Johannesburg Johannesburg ( , , ; Zulu language, Zulu and Xhosa language, Xhosa: eGoli ) (colloquially known as Jozi, Joburg, Jo'burg or "The City of Gold") is the most populous city in South Africa. With 5,538,596 people in the City of Johannesburg alon ...

, matriculating in 1974. After a year as an American Field Service exchange student at Washington High School in

Wisconsin Wisconsin ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest of the United States. It borders Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake Michigan to the east, Michig ...

, Gillwald started studying at the

University of the Free State The University of the Free State (; Sotho language, Sesotho: ''Yunivesithi ya Freistata'') is a multi-campus public university in Bloemfontein, the capital of the Free State (province), Free State and the judicial capital of South Africa. It wa ...

, from which she graduated with a

Bachelor of Commerce A Bachelor of Commerce (BCom or B Com) is an undergraduate degree in commerce, accounting, mathematics, economics, and management-related subjects. The degree is mainly offered in Commonwealth nations. Structure Bachelor of Commerce The Bac ...

in 1979.

Career

Gillwald was involved in community work in the Intabazwe township outside

Harrismith Harrismith is a large town in the Free State (South African province), Free State province of South Africa. It was named for Sir Harry Smith, 1st Baronet, Sir Harry Smith, a 19th-century British governor and high commissioner of the Cape Colony. ...

where she also helped found the Fundisanani Community Trust, built a centre for street children, and organised winter schools to assist matric students in the township with their

mathematics Mathematics is a field of study that discovers and organizes methods, Mathematical theory, theories and theorems that are developed and Mathematical proof, proved for the needs of empirical sciences and mathematics itself. There are many ar ...

and

science Science is a systematic discipline that builds and organises knowledge in the form of testable hypotheses and predictions about the universe. Modern science is typically divided into twoor threemajor branches: the natural sciences, which stu ...

. She also worked for multiple companies as a public relations officer as well as director of finance and administration.

Political career

Gillwald joined the

after the party was unbanned by the white minority government in 1990. Following the first post-apartheid elections in 1994, Gillwald was appointed by the Free State ANC to serve in the newly reestablished

Senate A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...

which later became the

National Council of Provinces The National Council of Provinces (NCOP) is the upper house of the Parliament of South Africa under the post-apartheid constitution of South Africa, constitution which came into full effect in 1997. It replaced the former Senate of South Africa# ...

. She was appointed to the

National Assembly In politics, a national assembly is either a unicameral legislature, the lower house of a bicameral legislature, or both houses of a bicameral legislature together. In the English language it generally means "an assembly composed of the repr ...

in the same year. While a

backbencher In Westminster system, Westminster and other parliamentary systems, a backbencher is a member of parliament (MP) or a legislator who occupies no Minister (government), governmental office and is not a Frontbencher, frontbench spokesperson ...

, she sat on the

Standing Committee on Public Accounts The Standing Committee on Public Accounts (SCOPA; Afrikaans: ''Staande Komitee oor Openbare Rekeninge'') is a standing committee of the National Assembly of South Africa, the lower house of the Parliament of South Africa. It oversees the financial ...

and the Portfolio Committee on Finance. After Gillwald was elected to a full term in the National Assembly in

1999 1999 was designated as the International Year of Older Persons. Events January * January 1 – The euro currency is established and the European Central Bank assumes its full powers. * January 3 – The Mars Polar Lander is launc ...

, President

Thabo Mbeki Thabo Mvuyelwa Mbeki (; born 18 June 1942) is a South African politician who served as the 2nd democratic president of South Africa from 14 June 1999 to 24 September 2008, when he resigned at the request of his party, the African National Cong ...

appointed her Deputy Minister of Justice and Constitutional Development. She became Deputy Minister of Correctional Services in late-April 2004 following that year's general election. In her new position, Gillwald spoke out against the overcrowding of South African prisons in June 2004, calling it entirely unstainable and unacceptable. Mbeki informed the first cabinet meeting of 2006 held on 25 January that he had granted Gillwald's request to vacate her position in government to attend to family commitments at the end of the month. She resigned from the government and tendered her resignation as a Member of Parliament on 31 January 2006.

Loretta Jacobus Loretta Jacobus (born 6 April 1962), formerly known as Loretta Bastardo-Ibanez, is a South African politician who served as Deputy Minister of Correctional Services from February 2006 to May 2009. She represented the African National Congress ...

was appointed to succeed Gillwald.

Death

Gillwald was married to Charles Cousins. She had one son, Dane. Gillwald died from

cancer Cancer is a group of diseases involving Cell growth#Disorders, abnormal cell growth with the potential to Invasion (cancer), invade or Metastasis, spread to other parts of the body. These contrast with benign tumors, which do not spread. Po ...

on 27 July 2010, at the age of 53.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gillwald, Cheryl 1956 births 2010 deaths University of the Free State alumni White South African people Members of the National Assembly of South Africa 1999–2004 Women members of the National Assembly of South Africa Members of the National Council of Provinces Women members of the National Council of Provinces African National Congress politicians