Xiaomei Havard
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Xiaomei Havard | |
|---|---|
| Chinese: 张晓梅 | |
| Member of the National Assembly of South Africa | |
| In office 27 January 2021 – 28 May 2024 | |
| Preceded by | Jackson Mthembu |
| Personal details | |
| Born | |
| Party | African National Congress |
| Education | University of Johannesburg (PhD) |
| Alma mater | University of Johannesburg |
| Occupation | Member of Parliament |
Xiaomei Havard (Chinese: 张晓梅; pinyin: Zhāng Xiǎoméi)[1] is a Chinese-born South African businesswoman and politician from Gauteng who served as a Member of Parliament for the African National Congress.
Havard is from Henan, China.[2] She moved to Gauteng to study and later became a naturalized citizen. She holds a doctorate in computer science from the University of Johannesburg and a master's degree in electrical engineering from a Chinese university.[3] She is married to a South African.[2]
Political career
Havard joined the African National Congress in 2004. Havard is also the honourable president of the Africa Federation of Chinese Women in Commerce and Industry and the co-president of the South Africa-China Famous Female Business Council.[2]
In May 2019, she stood for election to the South African National Assembly as 130th on the ANC's national list.[4] Due to the ANC's electoral performance, she did not win a seat in parliament. It was later revealed that she was one of 23 MP candidates that the ANC's integrity committee wanted to remove from the party's lists because of "corruption, mismanagement, and other acts of misconduct."[5]
Parliament
Following the death of the Minister in the Presidency, Jackson Mthembu, on 21 January 2021, the ANC selected Havard to fill his seat in the National Assembly. She was sworn in on 27 January.[6][7] After her swearing-in, xenophobic hashtags trended on Twitter.[8] Havard serves on the Portfolio Committee on Health.[9]
On 3 September 2021, she directed her first parliamentary question to President Cyril Ramaphosa, asking him about the slow vaccination rate and what the government was doing to put an end to vaccination fears and encourage citizens to vaccinate.[10]