Ivy Matsepe-Casaburri

Ivy Matsepe-Casaburri
Portrait of Ivy Matsepe-Casaburri
President of South Africa
Acting
In office
24 September 2008 – 25 September 2008
Appointed byCabinet of South Africa
Preceded byThabo Mbeki
Succeeded byKgalema Motlanthe
Minister of Communications, Telecommunications and Postal Services
In office
17 June 1999 – 6 April 2009
President
Preceded byJay Naidoo
Succeeded bySiphiwe Nyanda
2nd Premier of the Free State
In office
18 December 1996 – 15 June 1999
Preceded byMosiuoa Lekota
Succeeded byWinkie Direko
Personal details
Born(1937-09-18)18 September 1937
Kroonstad, South Africa
Died6 April 2009(2009-04-06) (aged 71)
Pretoria, South Africa
Political partyAfrican National Congress
Alma mater
Occupation
  • Politician
  • teacher

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,[1] 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.[2][3] 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.

  1. ^ Acting President for period 14 September to 18 September 2005 Archived 4 June 2011 at the Wayback Machine
  2. ^ Quintal, Angela (26 September 2008). "No wars, no drama for Matsepe-Casaburri". The Mercury. p. 2. Retrieved 22 April 2009.
  3. ^ Chikane, Frank (28 April 2012). "Emotional farewell as Mbeki holds last cabinet meeting". Daily Nation. Retrieved 26 August 2016.