Kgakgamatso Nkewu

Nkewu was born on 27 May 1972[1] in the village of Molelema near Taung in the present-day North West province.[2] She joined the ANC in the early 1990s[2] and was active in its Youth League and Women's League.[3] In 2013, she completed a degree in project management at Southern Business College.[2]

She represented the ANC as a local councillor in Greater Taung Local Municipality, where she was a Member of the Mayoral Committee,[2][4] until February 2015, when she was elected as Provincial Treasurer of the ANC's North West branch, serving under Provincial Chairperson Supra Mahumapelo.[5]

She therefore was not initially elected to the fifth North West Provincial Legislature, which was constituted in 2014,[6] but she was sworn in to the provincial legislature during the legislative term and joined the North West Executive Council in a reshuffle on 8 May 2016. Mahumapelo, in his capacity as North West Premier, appointed her as MEC for Social Development.[7] She remained in her dual positions as MEC and ANC Provincial Treasurer until her death later in 2016.[3]

She died on 7 July 2016 in a car accident on the N18 near Vryburg. She was travelling from Mafikeng to Taung, where she was scheduled to attend a campaign event ahead of the 2016 local elections, when her car collided with a cyclist; the cyclist was also killed and Nkewu's two bodyguards were hospitalised.[3][8][9] Her memorial service, held in Taung, included speeches by Mahumapelo and ANC Women's League stalwarts Bathabile Dlamini and Baleka Mbete.[4] Fenny Gaolaolwe acted as Social Development MEC until August 2017, when Hoffman Galeng was appointed as Nkewu's permanent replacement in the Executive Council.[10]

Nkewu was married and had two sons, who were aged four and 22 when she died.[11]