Lindiwe Sisulu was born on the 10th of May 1954, in Johannesburg. She is the daughter of African National Congress veterans, Walter and Albertina Sisulu.

Lindiwe was detained from 1975 to 1976 before joining Umkhonto weSizwe (MK), the military wing of the ANC and working underground. During her years in military training, she specialised in Intelligence. She obtained both her BA degree and Honours degree at the University of Swaziland. Lindiwe became editor of Times of Swaziland before teaching at the Manzini High School and then at the Manzini Teachers Training College. She then enrolled for an MA at the University of York, where she also completed her MPhil in 1989.

In 1990 after the unbanning of the ANC and other political organisations, Lindiwe returned to South Africa and resumed work as personal assistant to Dr. Jacob Zuma and thereafter as an administrator in the ANC’s Department of Intelligence and Security. She has worked as chief administrator of the ANC at the Convention for a Democratic South Africa and as a consultant for UNESCO’s Children’s Rights Committee. In 1992 she was awarded the Human Rights Centre fellowship in Geneva. She has published extensively on the subjects of women, the liberation struggle, working conditions and even agriculture. Lindiwe is currently the Deputy Minister of Home Affairs.