Foreign Minister Nkosazana Zuma is pleased to announce the following appointments as Heads of South African Diplomatic Missions abroad:
Prof S. Bengu - Berlin, Germany
Prof Sibusiso Bengu has had a long and distinguished career in education. He began his teaching career in 1952 at a primary school in Kwazulu Natal. He subsequently taught at various Teachers' Training Colleges and was appointed professor at the University of Zululand in 1977 where he served as Director of Student Advisory Services. In 1991 he was appointed Vice-Chancellor and Rector of the University of Fort Hare. Prof Bengu became Minister of Education in the South African Government in 1994, a position he held until June 1999.
Prof Bengu holds a BA degree from the University of Zululand, a BA Hons from the University of South Africa and a Ph D in Political Science from the University of Geneva.
Prof Bengu is married and has four daughters and a son.
Ms Y J Duarte Maputo - Mozambique
Ms Jessie Duarte has been active in politics for more than 20 years. She joined the Transvaal Labour Party Youth organisation in 1970 and later served as Publicity Officer of the Federation of Transvaal Women, an affiliate of the UDF, between 1986 and 1990 she was a contact person with the ANC Women in Exile, working with Ms Albertina Sisulu. From 1990 to 1993 she was elected to the Interim Leadership Group of the ANC to establish and launch branches of the ANC in the then PWV region. Ms Duarte served on the Provincial Executive Committee of the ANC in Gauteng from 1993 to 1997. She was elected to the NEC of the ANC in 1997, and also served on the Provincial Executive Committee of the ANC Women's League. She was a Member of the Executive Council for Safety and Security in the Province of Gauteng from April 1994 to April 1998.
Ms Duarte was registered as a student at UNISA and obtained credits towards a BCom degree. She completed a Wits Business School MAP course and also completed a a course in Civil Service Management with the Civil Service College in the UK.
Ms T Lujabe-Rankoe - Gaborone, Botswana
Ms Thandi Lujabe-Rankoe served the ANC in various capacities abroad between 1962 and 1994, including in Egypt, Zambia, Nigeria, Botswana and Zimbabwe. She was ANC Chief Representative in Oslo, Norway from 1988 until she returned to South Africa in 1994. Ms Lujabe Rankoe then joined the Department of Foreign Affairs and served as South Africa's High Commissioner in Dar-es-Salaam, Tanzania between 1995 and 1999.
Ms Lujabe-Rankoe holds a Diploma in Public Administration from the Johannesburg Technical College. During 1992-3 she attended courses in diplomacy in France, the UK, Norway and Germany.
Mr J Marx - Tel Aviv, Israel
Mr Johann Marx joined the Department of Foreign Affairs in 1970. He served in Buenos Aires, Argentina from 1972 until 1976, also doing relief duty at the South African Consulate-General in Lima, Peru and at the South African Embassy in La Paz, Bolivia. His next posting was to the SA Permanent Mission in Geneva from 1978-1982. From Geneva he was posted as Head of Mission to the South African Consulate in St Denis, Reunion, until 1985 from where he was also accredited as South Africa's first representative to the Comoros on non-residential basis in 1982. During this period, he was also responsible for South Africa's relations with Mauritius. After serving in the Africa Branch at Head Office for three years, he was posted to Marseille as Consul-General in 1988 and in 1990 he was transferred to the South African Embassy in Paris as Minister. He returned to Head Office in 1993 and has since been serving in the Africa Branch where he holds the rank of Chief Director with responsibility for Equatorial Africa.
Mr Marx holds a B Admin (Hons) degree from the University of Pretoria. He is married, with one daughter.
Mr H Mahlangu - Oslo, Norway
Mr Happy Mahlangu worked as Trade Union Representative in Canada for the SACTU from 1987 to 1989 after holding various positions with the organisation. During June 1989 he was appointed as the ANC Chief Representative to Canada, a position which he held until 1991. Mr Mahlangu joined the Department of Foreign Affairs during 1995 after a stint as research assistant at the University of Toronto. He is currently serving as Deputy Head of Mission at the South African High Commission in London.
Mr Mahlangu holds a BA (Political Science) from the University of Toronto.
Mr Mahlangu is married and has two children.
Ms F C Verwey - Helsinki, Finland
Ms Franki Verwey joined the Department of Foreign Affairs in 1972. She has served in The Hague, Paris and Brussels (EU Mission), as well as doing relief duty in the Comoros. On home postings she was Deputy Training Officer between 1979 and 1982 and also served on various desks, including the Far East and Australasia, North America, and East Africa and the Indian Ocean Islands. Ms Verwey has been attached to the Director-General's Office since 1996.
Ms Verwey holds a BA (Hons) degree and successfully completed the Oxford Foreign Service course in 1992.
Dr V T Zulu - Amman, Jordan
Dr Vincent Zulu has been a member of the Inkatha Freedom Party from its inception, and was also both a member of the IFP delegation to Codesa I and II, and of the IFP Caucus for the Multi-Party talks. He was a member of the Cabinet of the KwaZulu-Natal Government from 1991, holding the position of Minister of Education for the Province between May 1994 and February 1999.
Dr Zulu resided in the United States for a lengthy period while studying government policy analysis amongst other academic courses. He also undertook study visits to Germany, Ghana, England and Scotland, Japan, Taiwan and Namibia.
He holds BSc and BEd degrees and a Secondary Teacher's Diploma from the University of Natal, and an MSc and a PhD from the Vandervit University in Nashville, Tennessee.
Dr Zulu is married.
Issued by: Department of Foreign Affairs
Pretoria
21 AUGUST 1999