Rosemary Nokuzola Capa (born 24 October 1952), also known as Zoleka Capa, is a South African politician who is currently serving as Deputy Minister of Agriculture since June 2024. She previously served as Deputy Minister of Agriculture, Rural Development and Land Reform since August 2021 to June 2024. She was Deputy Minister of Small Business Development from May 2019 to August 2021. 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 has been a Member of 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 ...

since May 2014. From June 2014 to May 2019, she was the chairperson of the Portfolio Committee on Social Development.

Early life and career

Capa was born in Flagstaff in the

Cape Province The Province of the Cape of Good Hope (), commonly referred to as the Cape Province () and colloquially as The Cape (), was a province in the Union of South Africa and subsequently the Republic of South Africa. It encompassed the old Cape Co ...

(now part of 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 ...

) during

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 ...

. She qualified as a nurse and midwife while a trainee at the Holy Cross Hospital in Flagstaff. After the end of apartheid, she spent two terms as the Executive Mayor of the

OR Tambo District Municipality The OR Tambo District Municipality () is one of the seven districts of the Eastern Cape province of South Africa. It is within the Wild Coast Region. The seat is Mthatha. As of 2011, the vast majority (94%) of its 1,364,943 inhabitants spoke is ...

. In late 2010, she joined the

Eastern Cape Provincial Legislature The Eastern Cape Provincial Legislature is the primary legislative body of the South African province of Eastern Cape. It is unicameral in its composition, and elects the premier and the provincial cabinet from among the members of the leading pa ...

and was appointed to the

Executive Council of the Eastern Cape The Executive Council of the Eastern Cape is the cabinet of the executive branch of the provincial government in the South African province of the Eastern Cape. The Members of the Executive Council (MECs) are appointed from among the members ...

Member of the Executive Council In South Africa, the Executive Council of a province is the cabinet of the provincial government. The Executive Council consists of the Premier and five to ten other members,'' Constitution of the Republic of South Africa, 1996'', Chapter 6: "P ...

(MEC) for Rural Development and Agrarian Reform.

Career in national politics

Committee chairperson

Capa was elected to the

National Assembly of South Africa 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 who are elected every five years using a party-list proportional representation sy ...

following the general election on 8 May 2014. She was sworn into office on 21 May 2014. The ANC soon announced that Capa was their candidate for chairperson of the Portfolio Committee on Social Development. She was elected chairperson on 25 June 2014. Capa served as chairperson of the portfolio committee until the dissolution of the term on 7 May 2019.

Deputy Minister

Following the general election of 8 May 2019, Capa returned to Parliament on 22 May 2019. On 29 May 2019, President

Cyril Ramaphosa Matamela Cyril Ramaphosa (born 17 November 1952) is a South African businessman and politician serving as the 5th and current President of South Africa since 2018. A former Anti-Apartheid Movement, anti-apartheid activist and trade union leade ...

appointed her Deputy Minister of Small Business Development. Capa was sworn in the next day. On 5 August 2021, she was appointed as Deputy Minister of Agriculture, Rural Development and Land Reform.

Personal life

She is married to politician Ndumiso Capa. Their daughter Ntandokazi Capa is a

in the

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Capa, Rosemary Living people 1952 births Politicians from the Eastern Cape African National Congress politicians Members of the National Assembly of South Africa 2024–2029 Women members of the National Assembly of South Africa Xhosa people Members of the National Assembly of South Africa 2019–2024 Members of the National Assembly of South Africa 2014–2019 Members of the National Assembly of South Africa 1994–1999 Members of the National Assembly of South Africa 1999–2004 Xhosa women