Pinky Sharon Kekana is a South African politician, the current Deputy Minister in the Presidency, an African Union diplomat, and the former Secretary General of the Pan African Women’s Organisation (PAWO). She now serves as the Patron of the Pan African Business Women’s Association (PABWA). Born and bred in Bela-Bela, located in the Limpopo Province, her first job was as a secondary school teacher at Bela-Bela High School, after completing her Bachelor of Arts in Education . It was her experiences as a secondary school teacher, that fuelled her passion for South Africa’s youth, education, and her commitment to improving opportunities for young South Africans, from all walks of life. It was her interest in politics though, that led her to the African National Congress. She was elected to the Provincial legislature in 1999 and later re-elected in 2009. She has also served as the Executive Mayor of the Waterberg District, the MEC of Limpopo Roads and Transport, as well as MEC for Economic Development, Environment and Tourism in Limpopo.

In 2014, she was elected as a Member of Parliament. In this role, Kekana has been a part of a number of committees most notably the Standing Committee on Finance and the Ad Hoc Committee on the Filling of Vacancies in the Commission for Gender Equality.

In 2015 she was elected into the National Executive Committee of the African National Congress Women’s League and its National Working Committee. She was subsequently appointed as the Women’s league Chairperson on International Relations and later The Pan African Women’s Organisation (PAWO) Secretary General, a position she served in until April 2020.

In December 2017, she was elected by the ANC branches into the National Executive Committee, and in this capacity, she serves on several sub-committees of the ANC. In 2019 Deputy Minister Kekana was appointed as a member of the ANC National Youth Task Team(NYTT).

It was in March 2018,when she was appointed as the Deputy Minister of the then Department of Communications by President Cyril Ramaphosa. After the May 2019 national elections, She was again appointed to this role in the 6th administration, within the newly formed Department of Communications and Digital Technologies. She diligently served in this role until the 5th of August 2021.