Dr Nzimande was appointed as Minister of Higher Education, Science and Technology on 30 May 2019. He was Minister of Transport from 27 February 2018 to 25 May 2019. Dr Bonginkosi Emmanuel "Blade" Nzimande was the Minister of Higher Education and Training in the Republic of South Africa from 26 May 2014 until 17 October 2017.

He is a general secretary of the South African Communist Party; chairperson of the Parliamentary Select Committee on Education; deputy chair of the Central Committee of the South African Communist Party; and chairperson of the Financial Sector Campaign Coalition.

Academic Qualifications

Dr Nzimande holds a Doctorate in Philosophy specialising in Sociology from the University of Natal.

Career/Positions/Memberships/Other Activities

Dr Nzimande has has lectured at the University of Zululand in 1985, and was a lecturer in Industrial Psychology at the University of Natal in 1987.

He was a Council member at the University of South Africa; a member of the National Deployment Committee of the ANC; chairperson of the board of trustees at the Centre for Educational Policy Development; a council member at the University of Transkei; a council member at the University of KwaZulu-Natal, and chairperson of the African National Congress Parliamentary Study Group on Education.