Zweledinga Pallo Jordan (born 22 May 1942) is a South African politician. He was a member of the National Executive Committee 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 ...

, and was a cabinet minister from 1994 until 2009.

Early life

Jordan is the son of the academics Archibald Campbell Jordan and Phyllis Ntantala-Jordan. Like his parents, Jordan was active in the Non-European Unity Movement against

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 ...

. He then joined the ANC and went into exile, studying in

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and the

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.Zweledinga Pallo Jordan
South African History Online

Political career

Jordan worked for the ANC in London and in

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n states. In 1982 he narrowly escaped the detonation of the letter bomb which the apartheid regime had sent to Ruth First and killed her.Miracle Rising: South Africa

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In 1985, he was elected to the ANC's National Executive Committee (NEC). He served as administrative secretary of the NEC Secretariat (1985–1988), on the NEC's Strategy and Tactics Committee as

convenor The chair, also chairman, chairwoman, or chairperson, is the presiding officer of an organized group such as a Board of directors, board, committee, or deliberative assembly. The person holding the office, who is typically elected or appointed by ...

(1985–1989), on the NEC's sub-committee on negotiations and the NEC's sub-committee on Constitutional Guidelines and as the Director of Information and Publicity (1989). Jordan returned to

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...

after the unbanning of the ANC in 1990. Having already participated in the 1987 negotiations in Senegal, he was also a negotiator in the CODESA. In 1994, he was elected to be a Member of Parliament in 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 ...

for the ANC. He became Minister of Posts, Telecommunications, and Broadcasting (1994–1996) and subsequently Minister of Environmental Affairs and Tourism (1996–1999). From 1999 to 2004, he served as Chairperson of the Foreign Affairs Committee in the National Assembly. After the 2004 National Elections, Jordan was appointed Minister of Arts and Culture by President Thabo Mbeki, a post he held from April 2004 to May 2009. In the

Eastern Cape The Eastern Cape ( ; ) is one of the nine provinces of South Africa. Its capital is Bhisho, and its largest city is Gqeberha (Port Elizabeth). Due to its climate and nineteenth-century towns, it is a common location for tourists. It is also kno ...

Province town of Lady Grey, a school was named after Jordan, called the "Dr Pallo Jordan Primary School".

2009 scandal

He studied at the

University of Wisconsin–Madison The University of Wisconsin–Madison (University of Wisconsin, Wisconsin, UW, UW–Madison, or simply Madison) is a public land-grant research university in Madison, Wisconsin, United States. It was founded in 1848 when Wisconsin achieved st ...

in the

and at the

London School of Economics The London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE), established in 1895, is a public research university in London, England, and a member institution of the University of London. The school specialises in the social sciences. Founded ...

(LSE). His official biographies, but a newspaper investigation revealed that he did not complete his degree at Wisconsin–Madison.Pallo Jordan's phantom doctorate
'' Times Live'', 4 August 2014 On 11 August 2014, ANC secretary general Gwede Mantashe announced that Jordan had resigned from Parliament and apologised to the ruling party after reports that his qualifications were false. The ANC statement also revealed that Jordan had resigned from the National Executive Committee (NEC) of the ANC and from the ANC. At the same time, Jordan was fired from his position as a ''

Business Day A business day normally means any day except a legal holiday. It may also mean a business day of operation, any of the days an organization operates. It depends on the local workweek which is dictated by local customs, religions, and business ...

'' columnist because he failed to submit his weekly column for the publication. The ANC's Chief Whip in Parliament Stone Sizani said that with or without academic qualifications Jordan remains a source of pride for the party.Shamed, Pallo Jordan resigns

Independent Online ''Independent Online'', popularly known as ''IOL'', is a news website based in South Africa that serves the online versions of a number of South African newspapers, including '' The Star'', '' Cape Times'', '' Cape Argus'', ''Weekend Argus'', '' ...

, 11 August 2014

References

External links

Government biography
(archived link) * {{DEFAULTSORT:Jordan, Pallo 1942 births Living people People from Kroonstad Xhosa people African National Congress politicians Communications ministers of South Africa Arts and culture ministers of South Africa Members of the National Assembly of South Africa 2004–2009 Members of the National Assembly of South Africa 2009–2014 Members of the National Assembly of South Africa 2014–2019 University of Wisconsin–Madison alumni Alumni of the London School of Economics Members of the National Assembly of South Africa 1994–1999 Members of the National Assembly of South Africa 1999–2004