More often, if it is men, they will start off by clearing their throat. Then you know that this is a party line and not a personal conviction.” - Thandi Modise

About Thandi Modise

Thandi Ruth Modise (born 25 December 1959) is a South African politician who served as the Minister of Defence and Military Veterans from 2021 to 2024. She was previously the Premier of the North West from 2010 to 2014, Chairperson of the National Council of Provinces from 2014 to 2019, and Speaker of the National Assembly from 2019 to 2021. Modise has been a member of the African National Congress (ANC) since the 1976 Soweto uprising, when she dropped out of high school to join uMkhonto we Sizwe (MK), the ANC's armed wing, in exile. In 1978 she returned to South Africa as a trained guerrilla operative for MK and from 1980 to 1988 she was imprisoned under the Terrorism Act for her anti-apartheid activism.