PIONEER
Zola Sidney Themba Skweyiya
Politician | Diplomat | Negotiator
Born: 14 April 1942 Died: 11 April 2018
“The ANC’s task was to create a constitutional framework for a democratic South Africa and we were invited to look at foreign constitutions. We all knew that the character of the state would determine the locus of power. We knew that it would have to usher in human rights and freedoms, that the basis of our Constitution should be our unequivocal commitment to substantive equality and improving the lives of the masses of our people … Negotiating a final constitution created an unbelievable opportunity for us to build a united nation by acknowledging our strength in our diversity. It therefore became important that the founding ‘values’ in our struggle for freedom would be the first to constitute the founding provisions of our democratic state.”
Who is
Zola Sidney Themba Skweyiya?
Politician and diplomat, former Minister of Public Service and Administration, as well as of Social Development.
Professions
and Roles
South African High Commissioner to the United Kingdom and Northern Ireland, Former Minister of Public Service and Administration, Minister of Social Development.
Best Known For
Being the former Minister of Public Service and Administration, Minister of Social Development, as well as Chairperson of the African National Congress (ANC) Constitution Committee.
Life highlights
- Skweyiya joined the ANC in 1956. He mobilised support for Umkhonto we Sizwe (MK) when Nelson Mandela went overseas to seek military training facilities for the ANC. He also set up an ANC office in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia in 1982.
- After returning from exile in 1990, Skweyiya helped set up the Centre for Development Studies and the South African Legal Defence Fund.
- Skweyiya was elected to Parliament in 1994, joining the Cabinet as Minister of Public Service and Administration until 1999. He was appointed as Minister of Social Development from 1999 to 2009.
- Skweyiya retired from politics in 2009. He was appointed as the South African High Commissioner to the United Kingdom and Northern Ireland in 2009.
IN THEIR OWN WORDS
“The ANC’s task was to create a constitutional framework for a democratic South Africa and we were invited to look at foreign constitutions. We all knew that the character of the state would determine the locus of power. We knew that it would have to usher in human rights and freedoms, that the basis of our Constitution should be our unequivocal commitment to substantive equality and improving the lives of the masses of our people …
Negotiating a final constitution created an unbelievable opportunity for us to build a united nation by acknowledging our strength in our diversity.
It therefore became important that the founding ‘values’ in our struggle for freedom would be the first to constitute the founding provisions of our democratic state.”
– Zola Skweyiya
IN THE WORDS OF OTHERS
“Integrity was the defining and determining force as well as guiding light of his entire existence.”
– Zola Skweyiya
“He was not given to vanity‚ nor did he seek to project himself or impose himself on others. He was a man with the capacity to do his work quietly and diligently‚ virtually unnoticed. But the quality of his output never failed to impress.”
– Pallo Jordan, South African politician
