Tina Joemat-Pettersson was born on 18 December 1963 in Kimberly. She attended the William Pescord High School and continued her education at the University of the Western Cape. She received an Honours degree in English in 1990 and the following year completed a Diploma in Higher Education. In 2002, she also completed an Executive Management Programme at the University of Cape Town's Graduate School of Business.

She has also held many positions within political structures and for employment. She was a member of the Azanian Students Organisation in 1985 and then a teaching position at Pescodia Secondary School in 1987. She later became a member of the South African Democratic Teacher's Union (SADTU) in 1992.

Working her way up the ranks, she managed to become the Northern Cape national Representative for SADTU in the same year she joined. In 1994, Ms Joemat-Pettersson became a Member of the Northern Cape Provincial Legislature as part of the newly formed ANC government.

Her next major political appointment was as the Chairperson of the South African Communist Party in the Northern Cape in 1998. She also served on various education boards at this time as well as working with the ANC's Financial Committee before becoming its chairperson.

She is currently a member of the ANC's National Executive Committee (NEC) and the Minister of Agriculture, Forestry, and Fisheries.

This portfolio was created in 2009 with the President Jacob Zuma's cabinet reshuffle. The Ministry has inherited the responsibility for agriculture from the Minister of Agriculture and Land Affairs, the responsibility for fisheries from the Minister of Environmental Affairs and Tourism, and the responsibility for forestry from the Minister of Water Affairs and Forestry.

Sources:
Who is Who SA
SA Cabinet
Polity

Page Last Updated 14 April 2010