Charlotte Lobe

Madiepetsane Charlotte Lobe (; born 2 July 1973) is a South African politician, diplomat and civil servant who represented the African National Congress (ANC) in the National Assembly from 1999 to 2004 and in the Free State Provincial Legislature from 2004 to 2008. In October 2008, she defected to the Congress of the People (COPE), a newly formed breakaway party.

Lobe served as General-Secretary of COPE until she was removed from that office in October 2010. She has since rejoined the ANC. After several years of employment in public administration, in July 2022 she embarked on a posting as South African High Commissioner to Singapore. She is also a former Provincial Secretary of the ANC's Free State branch and a former member of the ANC's National Executive Committee.

Early life and education Lobe was born on 2 July 1973. During apartheid, Lobe and her sister, Gertrude, were active in the anti-apartheid movement in the former Orange Free State. Their father, a policeman, had left their mother, and Lobe described their political activity as a form of rebellion against him. They joined the Botshabelo Students Congress and the Botshabelo Youth Congress in 1987.

Career in government: 1996–2008 After apartheid ended, Lobe served as a local councillor from 1996 to 1999.

At the same time, Lobe rose through the ranks of the ANC and the ANC Women's League. She served as Deputy Provincial Secretary of the ANC's Free State branch from 2002 to 2005, deputising Pat Matosa, and in June 2005 she was elected to succeed Matosa as Provincial Secretary. In that capacity she served under Provincial Chairperson Ace Magashule, with Sibongile Besani as her deputy. She was the first woman to hold the office, which she filled while retaining her legislative seat. However, at the same conference, President Thabo Mbeki was ousted from the ANC presidency by Jacob Zuma, intensifying a serious rift in the party. Lobe later said:There were problems even before Polokwane, but the previous ANC leadership was able to unite members behind the ANC vision. I have no problem with the leadership that was elected at the national conference in Polokwane. I have a problem with its inability to unite the ANC. In February 2008, Lobe resigned as Provincial Secretary of the Free State ANC, saying that she disagreed with how certain organisational matters had been handled by the provincial party leadership. In June, the Mail & Guardian published excerpts from Lobe's resignation letter, in which she said that, in 2008, the ANC Provincial Executive Committee had "indulged itself in matters that I personally think are not in the interest of strengthening the ANC, but has the potential of dividing the organisation". She also said that Sibongile Besani, her deputy, had colluded with Magashule as part of a scheme of "consolidated efforts to render me useless by sidelining me from my core function", concluding that the current provincial leadership was "not conducive, not only to my conscience, but also to my health". and then full General-Secretary, of the new party. At that time, the party was riven by a leadership contest between Lekota and Shilowa, in which Lobe was viewed as aligned to Shilowa; The Sunday Times additionally claimed that Lobe had attempted to resign from COPE earlier in 2010 but had been convinced not to. Party spokesman Phillip Dexter said that the party had "no idea" where Lobe had been for the last few months. In March 2019, she was additionally appointed as DIRCO's acting chief operations officer, an office she retained as of October 2020.

High Commission: 2021–present Lobe rejoined the ANC and in 2021 was appointed as South African High Commissioner to Singapore by Zuma's successor, President Cyril Ramaphosa. She presented her credentials in Singapore in July 2022.

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