Dr Ivy Matsepe-Casaburri Remembered

An outstanding leader and servant of the people of South Africa – Cde Kgalema Motlanthe

he Department of Telecommunications and Postal Services hosted the Inaugural Dr. Ivy Matsepe-Casaburri in honour of the late ANC NEC Member and Minister of Communications, Cde Ivy Matsepe-Casaburri. Convened under the theme “Gender Equality and Mainstreaming in ICT: Smart Strategies for Radical Economic Transformation”, the memorial lecturer delivered by ANC NEC Member and Minister of Science and Technology, Cde Naledi Pandor, celebrated Cde Matsepe-Casaburri’s life work in Information and Communication Technologies.

Cde Ivy Matsepe-Casaburri was born on the 18th September 1937 in Kroonstad, Free State and educated in KwaZulu-Natal and the University of Free State. She obtained her Ph.D in Sociology at the Rutgers University in the United States of America. Cde Matsepe-Casaburri was appointed Chairperson of the SABC Board in 1993 and elected Premier of the Free State in 1996. In 1999, Cde Ivy Matsepe-Casaburri was appointed as Minister of Communications, a position she held until her passing on the 6th April 2009. She served briefly as the acting President of the Republic of South Africa in 2005 and again in 2008 between the resignation of Former President, Comrade Thabo Mbeki and the taking of oath by Former President, Comrade Kgalema Motlanthe.