39 Facts About Melanie Verwoerd

Melanie Verwoerd was previously a politician, ambassador, and the director of UNICEF Ireland.

Melanie Verwoerd was born Melanie Fourie on 18 April 1967 in Pretoria, but grew up in Strand, Western Cape, and Stellenbosch.

Melanie Verwoerd was brought up in what she described as a middle-class, conservative and Calvinist Afrikaner household, with both her parents being academics.

Melanie Verwoerd described her parents as both being supporters of the ruling National Party.

Melanie Verwoerd described her youth as: "Usual Afrikaner story, grew up in a very traditional Afrikaans household, white schools, white church-Dutch Reformed-white neighbourhood".

Melanie Verwoerd admitted that her choice of a subject to major in at university was a quixotical one as the Dutch Reformed Church did not ordain women as ministers at the time, but stated she was gripped by a "deeply religious passion" at the time.

Melanie Verwoerd met Verwoerd in 1985 in her theology class at the University of Stellenbosch.

Melanie Verwoerd started out as a supporter of apartheid, saying in her "Christian national education" she was brought up in to believe that apartheid was the natural system for South Africa.

Melanie Verwoerd's fiance, Wilhelm Verwoerd, was a Rhodes scholar, and she credited her time living in the Netherlands for three months prior to moving to Oxford in 1986 as changing her views.

Melanie Verwoerd stated that she had been brought up to believe that Mandela and the ANC leaders convicted at the Rivonia trial were "terrorists", but that reading his speeches at the trial changed her view of him.

In 1990, after his release from prison, she met Mandela, the leader of the ANC who had imprisoned in 1964 under Prime Minister Melanie Verwoerd, which inspired her to join the ANC.

Melanie Verwoerd's husband had wanted to meet Mandela to apologize for his suffering in prison, leading to her meeting Mandela at a cocktail party.

Melanie Verwoerd stated that the day after meeting Mandela she was driving home from work when she saw a group of black women line up to leave the all white town of Stellenbosch just before 5:00 pm when their work passes expired left her with the feeling that South Africa was too divided and something needed to be done to bridge the racial gap.

Shortly afterwards, Melanie Verwoerd was promoted to the executive community of the Stellenbosh ANC chapter.

People would tell you things like: 'I know it's horrible to say this, but the day Melanie Verwoerd was assassinated we danced in the streets.

Melanie Verwoerd took part in fact-finding missions, travelling to various locations including The Netherlands, UK, Sweden, Cuba, Chile, Australia, Brazil, Argentina, and the US.

Melanie Verwoerd was involved in the Women's Caucus, served as a resource person on the Women's Budget, and was a member of the Standing Committee investigating surrogacy.

Melanie Verwoerd received a deluge of complaints from wine industry laborers, whom charged that they were being treated as essentially slave labor.

Melanie Verwoerd made a point of enrolling her children in a multi-racial school in Cape Town, wanting her children to be exposed to children of other races.

Melanie Verwoerd formed an alliance with the other female MPs to press for concerns such as the lack of child care at the parliament, inspiring her and the other women MPs to all bring their children to work one day, throwing parliament into chaos, but which led the parliament to set up a creche the same day.

Melanie Verwoerd asked President Thabo Mbeki for an ambassadorship and asked specifically for Ireland.

On 20 March 2001, Melanie Verwoerd arrived at the Aras an Uachtarain to present her credentials as the ambassador of South Africa to Ireland to President Mary McAleese.

In late 2001, Melanie Verwoerd was one of the founders of the Africa Solidarity Center in Dublin intended to break down prejudices against African refugees in Ireland.

In 2002, when a report showed that two-thirds of those seeking asylum in Ireland had to live emergency accommodation as many landlords did not like to rent to them, Melanie Verwoerd called for more multiculturalism and integration in Ireland.

Melanie Verwoerd presented a weekly radio programme, Spectrum, on RTE Radio 1, on the theme of multiculturalism, which addressed the challenges facing the new Ireland and examined the issues that arise in a multicultural society.

Melanie Verwoerd described her audience as the host of Spectrum as not being immigrant communities in Ireland, but rather a mainstream Irish audience interested in multiculturalism.

Melanie Verwoerd stated in an interview: "But our remit has changed slightly in that are now asking more, not so much what is lacking as it comes up, but what is the society that we want to create in Ireland".

Melanie Verwoerd was involved in lobbying the Irish government to introduce new legislation to protect women from female genital mutilation and was involved in introducing a more child-friendly asylum process.

In 2008, Melanie Verwoerd became the partner of Gerry Ryan, a well-known radio and TV personality in Ireland.

Ryan died suddenly on 30 April 2010, with Melanie Verwoerd finding his body.

In July 2011, the Board of UNICEF Ireland dismissed Melanie Verwoerd, citing the media attention and its handling following the death of Ryan as the reason, and offering a substantial ex-gratia payment.

Chris Horn, who had been the chairman of UNICEF Ireland at the time that Melanie Verwoerd was hired in 2005, stated he was concerned that her sacking would damage the ability of UNICEF to keep raising money.

Horn stated about Melanie Verwoerd: "She was very well qualified and as well as her personal attributes and excellent character, she was from the developing world and that made her even more attractive".

In 2007, Melanie Verwoerd was awarded with the Irish Tatler's International Woman of the Year award.

In 2018, Melanie Verwoerd was ranked one of the top two political analysts in South Africa in the Financial Mail's analyst ratings.

Melanie Verwoerd had a weekly column on News24, which she left at the end of 2023.

Melanie Verwoerd has conducted radio interviews for EWN, 702, and Cape Talk.

In 2008, Melanie Verwoerd became the partner of Gerry Ryan, a well-known radio and TV personality in Ireland.

Ryan died suddenly on 30 April 2010, with Melanie Verwoerd finding his body.