Issued by: Department of Foreign Affairs
Foreign Minister Alfred Nzo today announced the appointment of the following new heads of South African diplomatic missions:
Ms T Luthuli-Gcabashe Ambassador: Caracas, Venezuela
Ms Thandi Luthuli-Gcabashe went into exile in the late 1960s and played an active role in Anti-Apartheid organisations in the United States, including the American Committee on Africa based in New York City and the Washington Office on Africa. She testified often before the United Nations Special Committee on the status of Anti-Apartheid work in the Southeast region of the US in 1985. She organised a group of Atlanta university students to testify before the committee on the divestiture campaigns and related activities on their campuses. In 1991, after 22 years in exile, she attended the first conference of the ANC inside South Africa since its banning in 1960. She has received several civic awards in the US.
Ms Luthuli-Gcabashe will be the first South African Ambassador to Venezuela.
Mr Mbulelo Rakwena Ambassador: Brasilia, Brazil
Mr Mbulelo Rakwena (35) served as South Africa's High Commissioner to Mauritius prior to taking up his post in Brazil.
Mr Rakwena became a member of the Azanian's Peoples' Organisation (AZAPO) in 1982, and headed their Foreign Affairs Department between 1991 and 1994.
Between 1984 and 1989 he was involved with the Black Allied Mining and Construction Workers Union, rising to the position of Deputy Secretary General. From 1990 to 1994 he was Executive Director of the Community Development Foundation and in 1995 he was a Consultant with Liberty Life.
In 1996 he became Business Development Director at Tholwana - MIB Insurance Brokers, until he joined the Department of Foreign Affairs in 1997 as Director in the SADC Directorate. He attended a Certificate Programme on Industrial Relations at the Wits Business School and a course on Effective and Dynamic Management at the ORT STEP Institute.
He is married, with three children.
ISSUED BY THE DEPARTMENT OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS PRETORIA 5 OCTOBER 1998