From spokesperson to deputy minister, Nonceba Mhlauli's rise to executive

JOHANNESBURG - From spokesperson to deputy minister — this is how some have described the African National Congress (ANC)'s Nonceba Mhlauli's rise to executive.

The 34-year-old is among a number of young people appointed to President Cyril Ramaphosa's executive.

Mhlauli is the new Deputy Minister in The Presidency, a position usually occupied by the president's closest allies.

Her promotion comes a few years after ANC national executive committee (NEC) member Mzwandile Masina belittled her on X, formerly Twitter, calling her an ANC staffer and not a politician.

In 2011, at the age of 21, Mhlauli obtained her degree in journalism at Rhodes University. This is where she quickly joined and became an integral member of the South African Students Congress (SASCO).

In 2014, she then went on to become a media liaison officer for ANC in the Western Cape before being appointed the party’s caucus spokesperson in Parliament two years later.

When the late Jackson Mthembu was appointed Minister in The Presidency in 2019, he took Mhlauli with him and made her the ministry’s spokesperson.

Having served as the portfolio’s mouthpiece, she now returns to The Presidency — but this time as a deputy minister.