Jenny Schreiner | |
|---|---|
| Member of the National Assembly | |
| In office 9 May 1994 – 1997 | |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Jennifer Ann Schreiner 1956 Johannesburg, Transvaal Union of South Africa |
| Political party | African National Congress |
| Other political affiliations | South African Communist Party |
| Relations | Oliver Schreiner (grandfather) |
| Parent(s) | Deneys and Else Schreiner |
| Education | Epworth School |
| Alma mater | University of Natal University of Cape Town University of Pretoria |
Jennifer Ann Schreiner (born 1956) is a retired South African politician, activist, and civil servant who represented the African National Congress (ANC) in the National Assembly from 1994 to 1997. She has been a member of the Central Committee of the South African Communist Party (SACP) since 1991 and formerly headed the party's secretariat.
Schreiner joined the ANC and its armed wing, Umkhonto we Sizwe, while a student in Cape Town. She rose to national prominence in September 1987 when she was arrested and charged with terrorism alongside Tony Yengeni and 12 others. She was released in 1991 following a protracted detention and later the same year was elected to the SACP Central Committee for the first time. She served in the first democratic Parliament from 1994 to 1997, chairing the Constitutional Assembly's subcommittee on security services, and later served in the senior civil service for two decades from 1997 until her retirement in 2017. Her civil service career included stints in the National Intelligence Coordinating Committee, as Chief Deputy Commissioner for Correctional Services, and as director-general for the Department of Economic Development and Department of Women. She was elected to her eighth consecutive term on the SACP Central Committee in 2022.