Jessie Duarte

Jessie Duarte
Duarte at the 2019 election manifesto launch
Acting Secretary-General of the African National Congress
In office 3 May 2021 – 17 July 2022 Serving with Paul Mashatile (19 January 2022)
President	Cyril Ramaphosa
Preceded by	Ace Magashule
Succeeded by	Paul Mashatile (acting solely)
Deputy Secretary-General of the African National Congress
In office 18 December 2012 – 17 July 2022
President	Jacob Zuma
Secretary-General	Gwede Mantashe Ace Magashule (suspended)
Preceded by	Thandi Modise
National Spokesperson of the African National Congress
In office 2003 – February 2009
President	Nelson Mandela Thabo Mbeki Jacob Zuma
Succeeded by	Carl Niehaus
Ambassador of South Africa to Mozambique
In office 1999–2003
President	Nelson Mandela Thabo Mbeki
Succeeded by	Thandi Lujabe-Rankoe
Personal details
Born	Yasmin Dangor (1953-09-19)19 September 1953 Johannesburg, Transvaal, Union of South Africa
Died	17 July 2022(2022-07-17) (aged 68) Johannesburg, Gauteng, Republic of South Africa
Political party	African National Congress
Occupation	Politician diplomat civil servant anti-apartheid activist
Profession	Management accountant

Yasmin "Jessie" Duarte (née Dangor; 19 September 1953 – 17 July 2022) was a South African politician and acting secretary-general of the African National Congress. A longtime anti-apartheid activist, she served variously as a special assistant to Nelson Mandela, a member of the provincial cabinet (MEC) for Gauteng, as ambassador to Mozambique, and as spokesperson for the ANC, before assuming her post as Deputy Secretary-General of the ANC in 2012, until her death on 17 July 2022.

Early life and career

Yasmin Dangor was born on 19 September 1953 in Coronationville on Johannesburg's West Rand and grew up in nearby Westbury and Newclare.^[1][2][3][4] One of nine children to Julie and Ebrahim Dangor, she was the sister of the poet and activist Achmat Dangor.^[5]

After matriculation from Coronationville Secondary School in Johannesburg, Duarte started her professional career as a management accountant. By 1979, she was recruited by Albertina Sisulu to set up women’s structures throughout South Africa.^[2][3] Two years later, in 1981, she served in the position of secretary of the Federation of Transvaal Women, an anti-apartheid organisation.^[6]

In 1988, she was detained without trial. She was subsequently placed under a banning order until the lifting of the prevailing state of emergency.^[2] Around that time she was working with Reverend Beyers Naudé to set up a scholarship fund to educate anti-apartheid activists to become an effective corps of public servants.^[2][3] She worked for Ravan Press, a publishing company co-founded by Naudé.^[7]

Political career

When Nelson Mandela was released from prison in 1990, he appointed Duarte to be one of his personal assistants, a position she held until he became President of South Africa in 1994.^[4] She also assisted Walter Sisulu in a similar capacity in the lead-up to South Africa's first democratic elections.^[8][9] She became involved in the leadership of the African National Congress (ANC) at a regional level and was elected to the Transvaal Provincial Executive Council (PEC), was appointed to the ANC's interim leadership core,^[2] and became the inaugural Member of the Executive Council (MEC) for Safety and Security in Gauteng.^[4][8] In 1997, she was elected to ANC's National Executive Committee.^[9]

In 1998, she was accused of taking her lover on a trip to Portugal at the taxpayers' expense, sparking a controversy on the possible misuse of public funds.^[10] She was subsequently forced to quit her position as Safety and Security MEC after a commission of inquiry reported a "strong suspicion" that she had covered up a car accident while driving without a licence.^[11] Duarte admitted to having driven a car without a license but maintained that it was people in her department who had put out the claim that it was a bodyguard driving at the time.^[12] The Mail & Guardian newspaper reported that she delivered the allegedly fraudulent document containing this claim to them in person.^[13]

Duarte then became a diplomat and served as the South African ambassador to Mozambique from 1999 to 2003.^[8]

She became a spokesperson for the ANC^[14] and until 2010 served as chief operations officer in the Presidency in the office of President Jacob Zuma.^[7] In 2009 she featured in the news for two recorded diatribes launched against journalists Philani Nombembe of the Sunday Times^[15] and John Humphrys of BBC Radio.^[14] She later voiced support for the ANC's plans for a Media Appeals Tribunal in South Africa^[12] which faced criticism as being political interference with free speech and possibly unconstitutional.^[16] Duarte blamed the media for portraying Jacob Zuma in a negative light;^[17] according to the Mail & Guardian, "her dislike for the media [was] an open secret.^[7]

In December 2012, she was elected as Deputy Secretary-General of the ANC during the party's 53rd National Conference held in Mangaung, Free State.^[18] She was re-elected for a second five-year term at ANC's next national conference in Nasrec, Gauteng in 2017.^[19] She took over as ANC's acting Secretary-General when the incumbent Ace Magashule was suspended due to his indictment for corruption in May 2021.^[20][21]

In 2014, Duarte publicly compared Israel's actions in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank to that of Nazi Germany.^[22] This drew strong rebukes from Jewish groups within South Africa.^[23]

In 2019, she accused the ANC, the majority ruling party in South Africa, of being "racist" and "tribalistic" towards members and voters who are not black Africans.^[24]

In 2020 Jessie Duarte wanted the justice minister to "address" the "influential role" of the chief justice at the Judicial Service Commission as she felt that the independent judiciary had too much power.^[25] In a letter dated 2 March 2020 she attempted to influence the selection process for a constitutional court judge. There is no evidence that her attempts to weaken the judiciary were successful.^[25]

On 7 January 2021, Duarte announced that she would be retiring as deputy secretary-general of the ANC at the party's next conference in 2022.^[26]

She was accused of being tolerant of corruption within government structures,^[27] and in April 2021 supported former President Zuma's claims that the Zondo Commission was discredited.^[28] Evidence given at the commission suggested that Duarte’s ex-husband, John Duarte, was one of the people who appeared in the evidence of money flows from contracts within the scope of the commission's investigation.^{[29][clarification needed]} Her son was also accused of receiving money from a company that was awarded government tenders.^[30]

In June 2021, months after a report implicating the Chinese government in using the Uyghur minority for forced labour inside sweat shops in northwest China,^[31] Duarte was quoted by China's state news service, Xinhua News Agency, as saying that China was a model for many developing countries to learn from in areas such as poverty eradication, economic growth and development in east China; Duarte believed that the approach upheld by the Chinese Communist Party resonated with the ANC and its principle of Batho Pele or "People First.".^[32][33]

Personal life and death

She was married to John Duarte, with whom she had two children, and divorced in 2001.^[34]

In 2022, the African National Congress gave Jessie Duarte sick leave and she was away from her political duties for many months. After false claims of her death circulated on social media in the wake of her absence from public party events, Duarte revealed on 24 April 2022 that she had cancer.^[35] She died from cancer on 17 July 2022 at age 68.^{[3][8][4][36][37]} Her funeral was held in accordance with Muslim rites later that same day, with the eulogy delivered by President Cyril Ramaphosa; she was buried at Westpark Cemetery.^[38][39]

References

1. Madia, Tshidi (17 July 2022). "A look at the life and times of Jessie Duarte". Eyewitness News. Retrieved 17 July 2022.
2. "Jessie Yasmin Duarte". South African History Online, www.sahistory.org.za. Retrieved 24 June 2021.
3. Masuabi, Queenin (17 July 2022). "OBITUARY: ANC's Jessie Duarte has died". Daily Maverick. Retrieved 17 July 2022.
4. Cele, S'thembile; Siwele, Khuleko (17 July 2022). "Jessie Duarte, Former Special Assistant to Mandela, Dies at 68". Bloomberg.com. Retrieved 17 July 2022.
5. "Tributes pour in for author, political activist Achmat Dangor". IOL, www.iol.co.za. 6 September 2020. Retrieved 6 September 2020.
6. Mueni, Priscillah (25 November 2019). "The rise of Jessie Duarte". Briefly. Retrieved 24 June 2021.
7. "RECAP: Unravelling the riddle of Jessie Duarte". The Mail & Guardian. 8 December 2017. Retrieved 23 June 2021.
8. Harper, Paddy (17 July 2022). "ANC deputy secretary general Jessie Duarte has died". The Mail & Guardian. Retrieved 17 July 2022.
9. Madia, Tshidi (17 July 2022). "Remembering Jessie Duarte: straight shooter, patient, with a deep love for ANC". ewn.co.za. Retrieved 17 July 2022.
10. "Lover's trip damns Duarte". The Mail & Guardian. 6 February 1998. Retrieved 13 April 2021.
11. "'NOT FIT FOR PUBLIC OFFICE'". SowetanLIVE. Retrieved 23 June 2021.
12. Barron, Chris (27 February 2008). "Back with a vengeance". Witness. Retrieved 23 June 2021.
13. "Another day, another car smash scandal". The Mail & Guardian. 20 February 1998. Retrieved 23 June 2021.
14. "South Africa prepares for vote". 17 April 2009 – via news.bbc.co.uk.
15. "The Times". Archived from the original on 22 April 2009. Retrieved 22 April 2009.
16. Makinana, Andisiwe. "Contentious media tribunal still on the cards". News24. Retrieved 23 June 2021.
17. Rajab, Kalim (3 April 2019). "OPINIONISTA: The odious Jessie Duarte: Why this bully will be judged harshly by history". Daily Maverick. Retrieved 23 June 2021.
18. Subramany, Deshnee (18 December 2012). "Mangaung: The ANC's newly elected top six". The Mail & Guardian. Retrieved 17 July 2022.
19. Nicolson, Greg (18 December 2017). "#ANCdecides2017: Meet the ANC's new Top Six". Daily Maverick. Retrieved 17 July 2022.
20. Addamah, Steven (11 May 2021). "South Africa: Jessie Duarte appointed interim Secretary general of ANC". Medafrica Times. Retrieved 17 July 2022.
21. Harper, Paddy; Tandwa, Lizeka (26 May 2021). "Duarte: Magashule's court challenge to his suspension is premature". The Mail & Guardian. Retrieved 17 July 2022.
22. "ANC: Statement by Jessie Duarte, ANC Deputy Secretary General, on the situation in the Gaza Strip (10/07/2014)". Polity.org.za.
23. "ANC comparison of Israel to Nazis riles South African Jews". The Jerusalem Post | JPost.com.
24. "The ANC is racist and tribalistic, says gatvol Jessie Duarte". www.iol.co.za. Retrieved 13 April 2021.
25. Gerber, Jan. "'Biggest racketeering syndicate in democratic history': ANC cadre records reveal attack on judiciary". News24. Retrieved 21 February 2024.
26. du Plessis, Carien (7 January 2021). "Jessie Duarte to retire in 2 years' time, says she is looking forward to 'writing books'". News24. Retrieved 7 January 2021.
27. Rajab, Kalim (3 April 2019). "OPINIONISTA: The odious Jessie Duarte: Why this bully will be judged harshly by history". Daily Maverick. Retrieved 13 April 2021.
28. "Leaked audio: Some ANC top six members appear to concur with Zuma that Zondo commission and judiciary are biased". www.iol.co.za. Retrieved 13 April 2021.
29. Ngatane, Nthakoana. "Jessie Duarte's ex-husband's name appears in Gupta contract money flows". ewn.co.za. Retrieved 19 June 2021.
30. "Jessie Duarte's son, ex in kickback scandal". TimesLIVE. Retrieved 24 June 2021.
31. "Uyghurs for sale". 19 June 2021.
32. "Interview: China's anti-poverty, economic feat led by CPC sets example for developing countries, says S. African party leader – Xinhua | English.news.cn". www.xinhuanet.com. Retrieved 19 June 2021.
33. Shiningayamwe, Loide (25 June 2021). "China sets example for global anti-poverty efforts, says African ruling parties and its leaders". New Era. www.pressreader.com. Retrieved 17 July 2022.
34. Nkosi, Joseph; MA (12 May 2021). "Jessie Duarte biography, age, profile, education, positions, party | The Nation". Archived from the original on 24 June 2021. Retrieved 24 June 2021.
35. Deklerk, Aphiwe (26 April 2022). "ANC dispels Jessie Duarte death rumours". TimesLIVE. Retrieved 26 April 2022.
36. Nkosi, Ntombi. "Duarte described by the ANC as a tower of strength has passed away after a battle with cancer". www.iol.co.za. Retrieved 17 July 2022.
37. Maqhina, Mayibongwe (17 July 2022). "Obituary: ANC deputy secretary-general Duarte a great loss". www.iol.co.za. Retrieved 17 July 2022.
38. Mntambo, Nokukhanya (17 July 2022). "'Her politics was not divisive, but empowering, unifying' – Ramaphosa on Duarte". Eyewitness News. Retrieved 17 July 2022.
39. Sadike, Mashudu (17 July 2022). "Jessie Duarte laid to rest in Johannesburg". IOL. Retrieved 17 July 2022.