MR PAUL MASHATILE is the current Minister of Arts and Culture of the Republic of South Africa. He has held this position since 1 November 2010. He was the Deputy Minister of Arts and Culture from May 2009 to October 2010, the Premier of the Gauteng Province from 2008 to 2009 and the Gauteng MEC for Finance and Economic Affairs from 2004 to 2008. Prior to this he held Gauteng MEC positions for Housing, Transport and Public Works and Safety.
Minister Mashatile has been the Provincial Chairperson of the African National Congress (ANC) in the Gauteng Province since 2007 and is a member of the South African Communist Party (SACP). He also belongs to the Congress of South African Students (Cosas) and was a co-founder of the South African Youth Congress (SAYCO).
He possesses a Postgraduate Diploma in Economic Principles from University of London. An active member in the underground structures of the ANC and SACP, Mashatile also participated in and led many United Democratic Front (UDF) campaigns, including the Million Signature Campaign, the rent boycott and the campaign to unban the ANC.
From 1985 to 1989 Mashatile was detained without trial, during which time he went on a hunger strike for 18 days as part of a nationwide hunger strike protest. Mashatile was released from prison and placed under house arrest until the unbanning of the ANC in 1990. He played a leading role in re-establishing the structures of the ANC and the SACP in Gauteng.
The John Langalibalele Dube Memorial Lecture presented by Mr Paul Mashatile, Minister of Arts and Culture, on John Dube’s Challenge to the Humanities and Education in the 21st Century.
Date: Thursday, 30 August 2012
Time: 17:30 for 18:00
Venue: Colin Webb Hall, UKZN Pietermaritzburg campus
RSVP by Monday, 27 August 2012
Ms Vicky Crookes
Email: crookesv@ukzn.ac.za Tel: 033 260 5808