DIRCO Deputy Minister

Deputy Minister of International Relations and Cooperation of the Republic of South Africa

Profile: Mr Luwellyn Tyrone Landers

Member of Parliament of the Republic of South Africa from 1994 till present
Deputy Minister of International Relations and Cooperation of the Republic of South Africa from May 2014 till present

LUWELLYN TYRONE LANDERS was born on his grandfather’s farm in KwaZulu-Natal, where he grew up. He currently still resides in KwaZulu-Natal.
He studied through UNISA, but found that, in the face of heavy demands on his time, it has been more “the University of Life” that has been responsible for shaping his career.

Growing up in the years that he did, it was inevitable that politics was an ever-present concern. As a result, he became active in his community (and remains active today) and joined the Labour Party in 1984. In 1993 he joined the ANC (African National Congress) and was elected as a Member of Parliament to the National Assembly in 1994, for the ANC.

He was chosen as a delegate to the negotiating council that settled the final Constitution and presented it to the Constitutional Court. He has served continuously in Parliament for 20 years, since 1994 and of the few remaining “Class of ‘94” still serving. As one of the most experienced Members of Parliament, he has over the years been involved in developing numerous, substantive and transformative legislation that has helped build our democratic and developmental state.

He was a founding member of the Parliamentary Joint Standing Committee on Intelligence and the Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Justice and Constitutional Development. He has also served on various other National Assembly Parliamentary Committees during his 20 years in Parliament, including the National Assembly Rules Committee, the Joint Rules Committee, and other Ad Hoc Committees. He was appointed as Chairperson of the Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Justice and Constitutional Development from 2009 until 2014.

He was re-elected by the ruling party as an ANC member of parliament in April 2014 and appointed as the 2nd Deputy Minister of International Relations and Cooperation in May 2014. His current political responsibilities in this portfolio include political oversight for the Europe region and the Americas and Caribbean regions, specific areas of Multi literalism including human rights, as well as political oversight of the administration and parliamentary liaison on behalf of the department.
In his private time he is passionate about jazz and R&B music as well as soccer.