Ms Nokuzola Gladys (Sisisi) Tolashe was appointed as the Minister of Social Development from 3 July 2024.
Ms Tolashe was previously Deputy Minister in the Presidency for Women, Youth and Persons with Disabilities from 6 March 2023 to 19 June 2024.
She has been a Member of Parliament since 2016. She served on the Portfolio Committee on Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, the Portfolio Committee on Labour, the Portfolio Committee on Communications. She resigned from the National Assembly on 25 February 2018. In the same year, she was elected as the Executive Mayor of the Enoch Mgijima Local Municipality.
Deputy Minister Tolashe was elected back to the National Assembly in the 2019 general elections. She served on the Standing Committee on Public Accounts and the Committee for Section 194 Enquiry. In 2020, she served as Chairperson of the Ad Hoc Committee on the appointment of the Auditor-General.
The Deputy Minister is born, bred and educated in Queenstown in the Eastern Cape, Deputy Minister Tolashe cut her teeth in student and youth movement politics leading to ongoing detentions under different states of emergency. Before unbanning she served under the United Democratic Front (UDF) in both women, youth and civic organizations.
In the 1980s she was detained for 3 years in prison under session 29 and 2 years under the state of emergency which makes it 5 years in prison. The harassment, torture including imprisonment did not break her spirit but strengthened her resolve to continue with the fight for the liberation and the emancipation and empowerment of women.
