1. Ivy Florence Matsepe-Casaburri was a South African politician.
15 Facts About Ivy Matsepe-Casaburri
1. 2.
Ivy Matsepe-Casaburri was the 2nd premier of the Free State and South Africa's Minister of Communications from 1999 until her death.
3.
Ivy Matsepe-Casaburri served briefly as South Africa's acting president in 2005, when both President Thabo Mbeki and the deputy president were outside the country.
4.
Ivy Matsepe-Casaburri was the first woman to have held the post of president in South Africa and the first woman to be head of state of South Africa since Elizabeth II's reign as Queen of South Africa ended in 1961.
5.
Ivy Matsepe-Casaburri remained the only woman with this distinction until July 2021, when Angie Motshekga was appointed acting president.
6.
Ivy Matsepe-Casaburri was born on 18 September 1937 in Kroonstad in the Free State.
7.
Ivy Matsepe-Casaburri's father was a principal, musician and sportsman and her mother was a teacher, and a social and community worker.
8.
Ivy Matsepe-Casaburri completed her primary education in Kroonstad and attended secondary school in Kwa-Zulu Natal.
9.
Ivy Matsepe-Casaburri then obtained her Bachelor of Arts degree from Fort Hare University and proceeded to teach in KZN for two years.
10.
Ivy Matsepe-Casaburri first worked in Swaziland as a teacher for at least ten years before she moved to the United States.
11.
Ivy Matsepe-Casaburri went to the United States where she undertook her postgraduate studies.
12.
Ivy Matsepe-Casaburri worked for the United Nations Institute for Namibia as a lecturer and registrar, based in Zimbabwe.
13.
Ivy Matsepe-Casaburri served briefly as South Africa's acting president in 2005, when both President Thabo Mbeki and the deputy president were outside the country.
14.
Ivy Matsepe-Casaburri was the first and to date only woman to have held the post of president in South Africa and the first woman to be head of state of South Africa since Elizabeth II's reign as Queen of South Africa in 1961.
15.
Ivy Matsepe-Casaburri died of natural causes on 6 April 2009 during her term in office as the Minister of Communications.