Hlengiwe Mkhize

Hlengiwe Mkhize
Mkhize in 2016
Deputy Minister in the Presidency for Women, Youth and Persons with Disabilities
In office
30 May 2019 – 16 September 2021
PresidentCyril Ramaphosa
MinisterMaite Nkoana-Mashabane
Succeeded bySisi Tolashe
Minister of Higher Education and Training
In office
17 October 2017 – 26 February 2018
PresidentJacob Zuma
Cyril Ramaphosa
DeputyButi Manamela
Preceded byBlade Nzimande
Succeeded byNaledi Pandor
Minister of Home Affairs
In office
31 March 2017 – 17 October 2017
PresidentJacob Zuma
DeputyFatima Chohan
Preceded byMalusi Gigaba
Succeeded byAyanda Dlodlo
Member of the National Assembly
In office
6 May 2009 – 16 September 2021
National Treasurer of the African National Congress Women's League
In office
July 2008 – August 2015
PresidentAngie Motshekga
Preceded bypredecessor
Succeeded byMaite Nkoana-Mashabane
Vice-President of the Assembly of States Parties of the International Criminal Court
In office
2005–2008
Appointed byAssembly of States Parties
Other offices
(2009–2017)
Deputy Minister of Telecommunications and Postal Services
In office
26 May 2014 – 31 March 2017
PresidentJacob Zuma
MinisterSiyabonga Cwele
Preceded byPortfolio established
Succeeded byStella Ndabeni-Abrahams
Deputy Minister of Economic Development
In office
12 June 2012 – 26 May 2014
PresidentJacob Zuma
MinisterEbrahim Patel
Preceded byEnoch Godongwana
Succeeded byMadala Masuku
Deputy Minister of Higher Education and Training
In office
31 October 2010 – 12 June 2012
PresidentJacob Zuma
MinisterBlade Nzimande
Succeeded byMduduzi Manana
Deputy Minister of Correctional Services
In office
11 May 2009 – 31 October 2010
PresidentJacob Zuma
MinisterNosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula
Preceded byLoretta Jacobus
Succeeded byNgoako Ramathlodi
Personal details
Born(1952-09-06)6 September 1952
Died16 September 2021(2021-09-16) (aged 69)
Johannesburg, South Africa
CitizenshipSouth African
Political partyAfrican National Congress
SpousePat Mkhize
Alma materUniversity of Zululand
University of Natal

Hlengiwe Buhle Mkhize (6 September 1952 – 16 September 2021) was a South African politician who served as Minister of Higher Education and Training and Minister of Home Affairs under President Jacob Zuma. A member of the National Assembly and national executive since May 2009, she was Deputy Minister in the Presidency for Women, Youth and Persons with Disabilities when she died in September 2021.

Mkhize trained in clinical psychology and spent over a decade in academia at the University of Zululand and University of the Witwatersrand, until in 1995 she was appointed to the Truth and Reconciliation Commission. She chaired the commission's Reparations and Rehabilitation Committee. She went on to serve as South African Ambassador to the Netherlands from 2005 to 2008 before she was elected to the National Assembly in the 2009 general election.

Between 2009 and 2017, Mkhize served Zuma's administration as a deputy minister in four different portfolios: she was Deputy Minister of Correctional Services from 2009 to 2010, Deputy Minister of Higher Education and Training from 2010 to 2012, Deputy Minister of Economic Development from 2012 to 2014, and Deputy Minister of Telecommunications and Postal Services from 2014 to 2017. After that, she was promoted to Zuma's second-term cabinet, first as Minister of Home Affairs in 2017 and then as Minister of Higher Education and Training from 2017 to 2018. In February 2018, she was sacked by Zuma's successor, President Cyril Ramaphosa, and she retreated briefly to the chairmanship of the Portfolio Committee on Communications. She was appointed to her deputy ministerial position in the Presidency after the 2019 general election.

A longserving member of the African National Congress (ANC), Mkhize was the national treasurer of the ANC Women's League from July 2008 to August 2015. She was a member of the party's National Executive Committee from December 2017 until her death.