H.E. Madiepetsane Charlotte Lobe is the High Commissioner of the Republic of South Africa to Singapore. She is a member of the Advisory Committee of the Africa Singapore Business Forum (ASBF), a patron of the South African Business Chamber in Singapore, a patron of the Federation in Commerce and Industry, South Africa (IWFCI-SA) and a patron of Fixing Each Other’s Crowns. She is a recipient of the Women of Firsts Awards conferred to her by the Charlotte Mannya Maxeke Institute for preserving the memory of Charlotte Maxeke. She is also a recipient of the Fixing Each Other’s Crown for her role in promoting women’s economic and financial inclusion.
Mrs. Lobe is the former Acting Chief Operations Officer of the Department of International Relations and Cooperation (DIRCO) and the former Chairperson of the DIRCO departmental COVID-19 Steering Committee. She is the founding President of the African Women Leaders Network, South Africa. She also the former Convener of the Gertrude Shope Women Mediators Network and the Co-Convener of the South African Women’s Peace Table. She is an author of the book, My Father: My Hero, My Zero and From Charlotte to Charlotte with
Love: Celebrating 50 Year of Grace. She is also one of the contributors to the Charlotte Mannya- Maxeke Institute’s book: Women Before Us.
She holds a Master’s Degree in Politics, majoring in Governance and Political Transformation from the University of the Free State. Mrs. Lobe also holds a Diploma in Public Relations and Communication. She was awarded an opportunity to study at the University of Manchester, UK (2001) under a Professional Development Programme called “Africa Future Leaders Programme” where among others she was introduced to the field of International Relations and Gender Studies.
Ahead of her posting to Singapore, Mrs. Lobe represented South Africa in various capacities globally. These include her role as the Focal Person on Women, Peace and Security, South Africa.This afforded her an opportunity to serve in the Global Network of National Focal Points on Women, Peace and Security where she co-chaired the Network on behalf of South Africa. She also served
on the Global Steering Committee of the Generation Equality Forum, a multigenerational initiative aimed at dismantling gender inequalities and achieving a gender-equal world by 2030.
From a tender age she has always been committed and passionate about issues of equality, civil and human rights; this led her to pursue an activist role in various spheres of society and served her people in various capacities within the student movement, youth movement, women’s movement and various structures of the liberation movement.
In her leadership role within government, Mrs. Lobe served as a Councilor (1996-1999) at the local government level, served as a Member of Parliament (1999-2004) and finally as a Member of the Free State Provincial Legislature (2004-2008). Her work in the legislative sector reflects her activism and work with communities and in particular young people and grassroots women.
