Ivy Matsepe-Casaburri

Ivy Florence Matsepe-Casaburri (18 September 1937 – 6 April 2009) was a South African politician. She was the 2nd premier of the Free State and South Africa's Minister of Communications from 1999 until her death. She served briefly as South Africa's acting president in 2005, when both President Thabo Mbeki and the deputy president were outside the country. Furthermore, she was chosen by the cabinet to be the constitutional and official head of state in an interim capacity for 14 hours on 25 September 2008, between the resignation of Thabo Mbeki and the taking of office by Kgalema Motlanthe. She was the first woman to have held the post of president in South Africa and the first woman to be head of state of South Africa since Elizabeth II's reign as Queen of South Africa ended in 1961. She remained the only woman with this distinction until July 2021, when Angie Motshekga was appointed acting president. Quotes People without a memory cannot chart their past to the future Poetry plays a significant role in the restoration of the memory of a nation South Africa's collective memory is an integral part of its living heritage people without an awareness of where came from cannot be in a position to reclaim their history Thus the celebration of our poetry resonates with the initiative by the department to reclaim and revitalise our indigenous languages and literature, in both the oral and written forms Heritage Day: Minister praises role of poetry,24 September 2007 External Links Category:1937 births Category:Women politicians in South Africa Category:2009 deaths