Mary Metcalfe

Mary Metcalfe (née Poole; born 9 November 1954) is a South African politician, educator, and academic who served in the Executive Council of Gauteng from 1994 to 2004. A member of the African National Congress, she was Gauteng's inaugural Member of the Executive Council (MEC) for Education from 1994 to 1999 and then became MEC for Agriculture, Conservation and Environment and Land Affairs from 1999 to 2004. She also served as Deputy Speaker of the Gauteng Provincial Legislature in 2004. In 2021, she was appointed to the National Planning Commission.

Mary Metcalfe
Member of the Gauteng Executive Council for Agriculture, Conservation and Environment and Land Affairs
In office
June 1999 – April 2004
PremierMbhazima Shilowa
Preceded byNomvula Mokonyane (for Agriculture, Conservation and Environment)
Succeeded byKhabisi Mosunkutu (for Agriculture, Conservation and the Environment)
Member of the Gauteng Executive Council for Education
In office
1994 – June 1999
Premier
Preceded byPosition established
Succeeded byIgnatius Jacobs
Personal details
Born
Mary Ellen Poole

(1954-11-09) 9 November 1954
Bulawayo, Zimbabwe
Political partyAfrican National Congress

Life and career

Metcalfe was born on 9 November 1954 in Bulawayo, Zimbabwe.[1] In 1978, she moved to Johannesburg, South Africa, where she obtained her Master's degree at Wits University and taught remedial education, including at Wits from 1986 to 1994.[2][3] She became active in the African National Congress (ANC) in the 1990s.[2]

In South Africa's first democratic elections in 1994, Metcalfe was elected as a Member of the Gauteng Provincial Legislature, and Tokyo Sexwale, the inaugural Premier of Gauteng, appointed her to the Gauteng Executive Council as MEC for Education.[4][5][6] She served in that position until after the 1999 general election, when newly elected Premier Mbhazima Shilowa appointed her MEC for Agriculture, Conservation and Environment and Land Affairs.[7] In May 2004, following the 2004 general election, she was not reappointed to the Executive Council but became Deputy Speaker of the Gauteng Provincial Legislature. After a brief stint in that office, she left frontline politics in early 2005.[3]

In 2005, she joined Wits as the head of the university's School of Education. She remained there until 2009, when she was appointed Director-General in the Department of Higher Education and Training.[4][6] In May 2011, she moved to the Development Bank of Southern Africa,[4] before returning to academia at the University of Johannesburg.[4] In 2018, she was appointed to a four-year term on the council of Umalusi, the public education standards board of South Africa,[8] and in December 2021 she was appointed as a Commissioner at the National Planning Commission under Chairperson Mondli Gungubele.[9]

Personal life

As of 1994, Metcalfe had two young children.[2]

References
  1. "Curriculum Vitae – Mary Metcalfe". University of Pretoria. 2016. Retrieved 12 January 2023.
  2. "Just the woman for the job". The Mail & Guardian. 1994-06-10. Retrieved 2023-01-12.
  3. "Mary Metcalfe: Joburg – a drive through avenues of trees". City of Joburg. 2005. Retrieved 12 January 2023.
  4. "Our Team". PILO. Retrieved 2023-01-12.
  5. "Getting to the heart of shattered hopes". The Mail & Guardian. 1994-09-30. Retrieved 2023-01-12.
  6. "Who did the talking?". The Mail & Guardian. 2012-11-05. Retrieved 2023-01-12.
  7. "Uproar over new Gauteng cabinet". The Mail & Guardian. 1999-06-25. Retrieved 2022-12-29.
  8. "New Umalusi council appointed". South African Government News Agency. 2018-09-03. Retrieved 2023-01-12.
  9. "Presidency welcomes appointed members of third National Planning Commission". South African Government. 15 December 2021. Retrieved 2023-01-12.
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