Nomsisi Lindelwa Bata

Commissioner Nomsisi Lindelwa Bata boasts 40 years experience in the Public Service having served in various portfolios such as:

• General Manager: Procedural Support Services at the Eastern Cape Legislature (responsible for the Directorates of Committees, Public Participation, Research and Library Services, the  National Council of Provinces, Chairperson’s Forum and providing strategic support to the Women’s Caucus). The Women’s Caucus became a best practice in the country as the first Standing Committee of the Legislature with its own dedicated budget and human resources (Committee Coordinator, Legal Advisor and Researcher). This multi-party forum was also the first sub-branch to establish the Commonwealth Women’s Parliamentary Association. Provinces then followed to emulate this shining example of what can be achieved when women work together. In addition, she contributed to the formation of the Progressive Women’s Movement (an organic multi-party and multi-sectoral structure).
• Director: Special Programmes at the Office of the Premier (responsible for the Office of the Status of Women, those living with Disabilities, the Rights of the Child and the Elderly).
• Head of Committees (which is the engine of the Legislature).
• Deputy Director: Communications at the Eastern Cape Legislature (profiling of the institution through public relations campaigns tailored to various segments of the province’s population).
• Communications Officer (educating the public on the services of government and editing a departmental newsletter called Masithethe).
• Government Social Security Administration and recipient accreditation to ensure that services are disbursed to the needy and uprooting all forms of corruption.
• This experience was enhanced through working in the fields of Protocol, International Relations, General Administration and Management.

In terms of education, Nomsisi Lindelwa Bata holds a Master’s Degree in Policy Studies offered through a collaboration of the University of Fort Hare and University of Zimbabwe.  While pursuing these studies, she lent support to the development of a Governance and Democracy Training Manual which is currently used to induct newly-elected councilors in the SADC region.

She furthermore served in various capacities such as:

• National Facilitator for the Desmond Tutu Leadership Academy (where she trained women on leadership programmes);
• Regional Secretariat of the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association. She was instrumental in the decision to accord Eastern Cape Province host status for the Commonwealth Women’s Parliamentary Association. This was hailed as a resounding success by those who attended and it’s a project she was proud to lead;
• National Chairperson of the South African Public Participation Forum (a body of Public Participation Units across Legislatures in the country);
• Governing Bodies of Kingsridge High School & Dale College (in these roles, she acted as the vanguard of the country’s laws and promoted equity).

Commissioner Bata sits on the Audit and Finance Committees of the CGE.