Nkoana-Mashabane was born in Magoebaskloof and raised in Ga-Makanye, Limpopo. During the 1980s, she was an active member of the United Democratic Front and served in various structures of the Mass Democratic Movement and the African National Congress’ underground structures. After the unbanning of the ANC in 1990, she served the party in various structures, including the ANC Women's League and actively participated in the relaunch of the ANCWL in the country. Nkoana-Mashabane went on to be appointed as South African High Commissioner to India and Malaysia. She served as the Chairperson of the ANCWL in Limpopo and as a member of the National Working Committee of the organisation from 1992 to 1995. On her return to South Africa, Nkoana-Mashabane became Limpopo's Local Government and Housing Member of the Executive Council. In December 2012, Nkoana-Mashabane was re-elected as a member of the National Executive Committee of the ruling party at the party's 53rd National Conference, held in Mangaung, Free State Province. Her first election to the NEC was at the party's December 2007 National Conference, held in the city of Polokwane. President Jacob Zuma appointed Nkoana-Mashabane as Minister of International Relations and Cooperation on 9 May 2009. Zuma subsequently disputed suggestions that this was an unusual appointment in light of Nkoana-Mashabane's apparent lack of foreign policy experience, saying that "the ANC knows the strengths of this comrade" and noting that she was a member of the ANC National Executive Committee. During Nkoana-Mashabane's tenure as Minister of International Relations and Cooperation, South Africa became a member of the group of emerging economies under the BRICS banner. Nkoana-Mashabane was President of the 2011 United Nations Climate Change Conference held in Durban from 28 November to 11 December 2011. She was sworn in for a second term as Minister of International Relations and Cooperation on 26 May 2014. She is currently a member of the ANC NEC and NWC. In 2015, Ms Nkoana-Mashabane was elected as the Treasurer General of the ANCWL. In February 2018, she was moved to the Department of Rural Development and Land Reform, and her position was subsequently filled by Lindiwe Sisulu. Nkoana-Mashabane rose to infamy after an interview on Al-Jazeera where she responded to questions about the state of South Africa by detailing the manner in which she had, in her childhood, carried water pails on her head and subsequently has a hole in her head. She has also continued to be a dogged supporter and defender of disgraced ex-president Jacob Zuma despite his failure to uphold the constitution, his many corruption charges, and his rape charges, and particularly despite his erratic cabinet reshuffles which saw the South African economy lose R5 billion almost overnight. In May 2019, President Cyril Ramaphosa named Nkoana-Mashabane as Minister of Women, Youth and Persons with Disabilities, succeeding Bathabile Dlamini.
