Ivy Matsepe-Casaburri

Ivy Matsepe-Casaburri
Portrait of Ivy Matsepe-Casaburri
President of South Africa
Acting
In office 24 September 2008 – 25 September 2008
Appointed by	Cabinet of South Africa
Preceded by	Thabo Mbeki
Succeeded by	Kgalema Motlanthe
Minister of Communications, Telecommunications and Postal Services
In office 17 June 1999 – 6 April 2009
President	Thabo Mbeki Kgalema Motlanthe
Preceded by	Jay Naidoo
Succeeded by	Siphiwe Nyanda
2nd Premier of the Free State
In office 18 December 1996 – 15 June 1999
Preceded by	Mosiuoa Lekota
Succeeded by	Winkie Direko
Personal details
Born	(1937-09-18)18 September 1937 Kroonstad, South Africa
Died	6 April 2009(2009-04-06) (aged 71) Pretoria, South Africa
Political party	African National Congress
Alma mater	University of Fort Hare Rutgers University
Occupation	Politician teacher

Ivy Florence Matsepe-Casaburri (18 September 1937 – 6 April 2009) was a South African politician. She was the 2nd premier of the Free State and South Africa's Minister of Communications from 1999 until her death. She served briefly as South Africa's acting president in 2005,^[1] when both President Thabo Mbeki and the deputy president were outside the country. Furthermore, she was chosen by the cabinet to be the constitutional and official head of state in an interim capacity for 14 hours on 25 September 2008, between the resignation of Thabo Mbeki and the taking of office by Kgalema Motlanthe.^[2][3] She was the first woman to have held the post of president in South Africa and the first woman to be head of state of South Africa since Elizabeth II's reign as Queen of South Africa ended in 1961. She remained the only woman with this distinction until July 2021, when Angie Motshekga was appointed acting president.