The former deputy minister of minerals & energy's rebellious streak, underpinned by a sharp tongue, meant that Lulama Xingwana's recent elevation, from deputy minister of minerals & energy to a full ministerial position, was bound to raise eyebrows.
She is not known for being "a sweet, obedient one" as her Xhosa name means. To many, she is the firebrand who lashed De Beers, Anglo American and Sasol for "looting" SA's minerals, for being "lily white", and for dragging their feet on employment equity.
Critics and sceptics wasted no time in voicing doubts about her appointment as land affairs & agriculture minister, a portfolio which they argued called for a level-headed and sensitive person.
In the weeks that followed, her media department went into overdrive trying to dispel negative perceptions of her; juggling her appointments to accommodate numerous interviews with journalists.
When we finally get down to talking, after several postponements, there was exasperation, if not desperation, in her voice. In spite of her standard "it doesn't worry me at all" reply to questions about her reputation, she imparts an impression of being on a charm offensive.
"I'm a very gentle person," is her opening line. "I'm soft, actually. I cry. I hurt. I'm forgiving. I'm also a Christian."
It is probably not far-fetched to imagine that farmers will take her declaration with a pinch of salt.
With candidness, she explains that part of her mandate may not sit well with some farmers. "Sometimes we'll fight, but we will have to work together." She points out that government also has to look after the interests of the workers, the landless, the poor and the unemployed. She says if there's anything she does well, it is "to fight for the underdog". Xingwana says she doesn't expect too many obstacles as her predecessor, Thoko Didiza, "laid a solid foundation. My task is to implement."
Xingwana cut her teeth in the NGO sector where, for three years during the 1980s, she taught and trained Johannesburg northern suburbs' domestic workers life skills. A staunch member of the United Democratic Front, Xingwana later joined the SA Council of Churches as its Women Development Programme director.
Following the unbanning of the ANC, she became a member of its women's league, heading its development section between 1991 and 1994.
When the ANC got its landslide victory in 1994, Xingwana became an MP and also chaired the sports and recreation portfolio committee until 1999. Other parliamentary positions followed, notably chair of the women's caucus, the joint monitoring committee on improvement of quality of life and status of women, as well as the SADC regional women's caucus.
She still wonders, though, whether the "wonderful laws" passed more than 12 years ago to improve the lot of women, have in fact contributed to "transforming the psyche of society".
She says the controversy sparked by President Thabo Mbeki's call for a woman president to succeed him shows that SA is still very much a patriarchal society. "What is wrong with having a woman president?" she asks. "The responsibility of this nation has always been on the shoulders of women."
