For most South Africans, Zanele Mbeki is an enigma. Having broken the mould on the role of the First Lady in SA politics, Mbeki has also redefined for future First Ladies a position in public life that is not intrinsically tied to the presidency. While supportive of her husband, President Thabo Mbeki, and committed to her public duties, she has also managed to establish an independent life which has allowed her to carry on working in the field that has been a life-long passion - women's empowerment. Deeply private and suspiciously wary of media attention, almost nothing is known about the First Lady before she married. Speaking at a briefing at the second Beijing Conference on women, she was emphatic that she is not defined by her husband's job description. Born Zanele Dlamini, the daughter of a pastor, she grew up in Alexandra, the birthplace of many of SA's future political and gender activists. She was part of the second generation of black women to graduate with a BSc degree from Wits University and in the 1960s she left SA for Zambia where she continued to work as a social worker.
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