Profile information

Personal

• Date of Birth: 12 May 1948
• Marital Status: Divorced

Current Positions

• Minister of Trade and Industry of the Republic of South Africa since 11 May 2009.

Academic Qualifications

• Honours degree in Economics.
• Masters degree in International Relations from the University of South Hampton,United Kingdom (UK).
• Doctorate degree in Political Studies from the University of Sussex.

Career/Memberships/Positions/Other Activities

• Member of Parliament since 1994.
• Member of both the African National Congress (ANC) and South African Communist Party (SACP) in Mozambique.
• Returned to South Africa in August 1990 and worked in the Department of Economic Policy at ANC Head Office in Johannesburg.
• Professor and Co-Director of Centre for Southern African Studies at University of the Western Cape (UWC).
• He undertook policy research for ANC and Southern African Development Community (SADC).
• Member of the South African Ministerial delegation to World Trade Organization (WTO) in Seattle (1999), Doha (2001), Cancun (2003) and Hong Kong (2005).
• Led South African Delegation to the African, Caribbean, and Pacific (ACP)-European Union.
• Member of joint Parliamentary Assembly (JPA) since 1995.
• Member of the Joint Parliamentary Assembly bureau and ACP Co-Vice President of the Human Rights.
• Member of Eminent Persons Group put in place by the Global Coalition for Africa (2003).
• Member of both Central Committee and Political Bureau of the SACP.