Candith Mashego-Dlamini

Kwati Candith Mashego-Dlamini(born 1 January 1960) is a South African politician fromMpumalanga. She served as  theDeputy Minister of International Relations and Cooperationfrom May 2019 until June 2024, and she also served asDeputy Minister of Rural Development and Land Reformfrom 2014 to 2019.
A teacher by profession, Mashego-Dlamini was a member of theMpumalanga Provincial Legislaturefrom 1994 to 2014 and served in several different portfolios in theMpumalanga Executive Council. She was elected to theNational Assemblyin2014and was appointed as a deputy minister by PresidentJacob Zuma. Zuma's successor, PresidentCyril Ramaphosa, appointed her to her current position after the2019 general election.
Mashego-Dlamini is a member of theAfrican National Congress(ANC) and was formerly an office-bearer in the Mpumalanga branch of theANC Women's League. From 2017 to 2022, she was an elected member of the ANCNational Executive Committee.
Mashego-Dlamini was born on 1 January 1960 on a farm inHazyviewin the formerEastern Transvaal.After matriculating at Mshadza High School, she was a temporary teacher at Mganduzweni High School between 1980 and 1981. She went on to complete a teaching diploma and, later, a bachelor's degree at theUniversity of South Africa.
While teaching, she was active inanti-apartheid organisations, including theFederation of South African Women, and in the National Education Union of South Africa, a precursor to theSouth African Democratic Teachers' Union.She became active in theAfrican National Congress(ANC) during thenegotiations to end apartheid, joining theANC Youth Leagueand ultimately becoming a member of the party'sProvincial Executive Committeein the Eastern Transvaal. She also began a decade-long stint as provincial treasurer of the Eastern Transvaal branch of theANC Women's League.
In South Africa'sfirst post-apartheid electionsin 1994, Mashego-Dlamini was elected to represent the ANC in theMpumalanga Provincial Legislature, where she served for the next two decades. She also served in theExecutive Council of Mpumalangaduring that time, initially asMember of the Executive Council(MEC) for Health, Welfare and Gender Affairs under PremierMathews Phosaand then as MEC for Agriculture, Conservation and Environment under PremierNdaweni Mahlangu.
She remained in her ANC Women's League office during this period,and, between 1999 and 2002,she served on the ANCNational Executive Committeeas a co-opted member.Her co-option followed the ANC's50th National Conferencein 1997, at which the Mpumalanga ANC had unsuccessfully attempted to secure her direct election onto the committee.She was also viewed as a possible "dark-horse" contender to succeed Mahlangu as ANCprovincial chairpersonin 2002,though that position ultimately went toFish Mahlalela.
Under PremierThabang Makwetla, who governed Mpumalanga from 2004 to 2009, Mashego-Dlamini held two portfolios: she was appointed as MEC for Public Works in 2004,but she became MEC for Local Government and Housing in a reshuffle in 2007.While she was serving in the latter office, in August 2008, she stood for election as deputyprovincial chairpersonof the ANC's Mpumalanga branch, but she was defeated by Charles Makola; Makola's candidacy was backed byDavid Mabuza, who became provincial chairperson at the same elective conference.Unlike Mabuza, Mashego-Dlamini was a supporter of Premier Makwetla and of former ANC presidentThabo Mbeki.
Mabuza becamePremier of Mpumalangaafter the2009 general election, and Mashego-Dlamini, still perceived as a political threat to him,was not initially appointed to his Executive Council. However, she joined in November 2010, when Mabuza appointed her as MEC for Agriculture, Rural Development and Land Administration.In another reshuffle in July 2013, she became MEC for Health and Social Development,a portfolio which she held until the2014 general election.
In the 2014 election, Mashego-Dlamini was nominated to stand for theNational Assembly, the lower house of theSouth African Parliament, and she was elected, ranked 58th on the ANC's national party list.In the aftermath of the election, PresidentJacob Zumaappointed her asDeputy Minister of Rural Development and Land Reform. She was one of two deputy ministers in the portfolio, the other beingMcebisi Skwatsha.
During this period, at the ANC's54th National Conferencein December 2017, Mashego-Dlamini was directly elected to the ANC National Executive Committee for the first time. She was elected narrowly, ranked 80th of the 80 elected members by number of votes received.
Pursuant to the2019 general election, Mashego-Dlamini was re-elected to the National Assembly and reappointed as a deputy minister: PresidentCyril Ramaphosanamed her asDeputy Minister of International Relations and Cooperation, serving under MinisterNaledi Pandorand alongsideAlvin Botes.In this capacity, during a March 2022 parliamentary debate about theRussian invasion of Ukraine, Mashego-Dlamini urged "all South Africans not to take sides [in] the conflict between Russia and Ukraine, as this could go against our principles".
Her five-year term on the ANC National Executive Committee ended in December 2022, and she was not re-elected at the party's55th National Conference.
She was also not reelected to theNational Assembly of South Africafollowing the2024 South African general election.
She is married to Noah Dlamini, who owns aprivate security companyin Mpumalanga.