Tabetha Kanengoni Malinga

Tabetha Kanengoni-Malinga (born 23 August 1982) is a Zimbabwean businesswoman and politician. She was the Minister of State in the Office of Second Vice-President of Zimbabwe Phelekezela Mphoko from 2015 to 2018. Previously, she served as Deputy Minister of Sports, Arts and Culture from 2013 to 2015. She was the Member of Parliament for Mazowe Central from 2013 to 2018. She is a member of ZANU–PF, and previously held leadership roles in the party's youth and women's leagues.

Early life and education Kanengoni-Malinga was born on 23 August 1982. Her father Elias Kanengoni, who died in 2013, is a former deputy director of the Central Intelligence Organisation. She completed her O Levels and A Levels at Girls High School in Harare. She pursued a master's degree in strategic management from Chinhoyi University of Technology,

Political career Kanengoni-Malinga first entered Zimbabwean politics after graduating from the University of Cape Town. She organized a committee to investigation corruption within ZIFA, which revealed mismanagement and theft of funds by the association's leaders.

In 2015, Kanengoni-Malinga was appointed Minister of State in the Office of the Vice-President of Zimbabwe, and was assigned to Second Vice-President Phelekezela Mphoko. Her duties included managing the tasks assigned by President Mugabe to Vice-President Mphoko, and making sure the ministries the vice-president oversees were carrying out their roles effectively.

Kanengoni-Malinga describes herself as a "pan-Africanist, with a little liberal feminism, but certainly not a radical." She describes herself as "driven" by two agendas: female empowerment and "upholding the national flag wherever I go."

Business career Kanengoni-Malinga and her husband own several businesses in addition to their careers in politics. She owns a soybean farm in Mazowe that employs over 100 people, while her husband owns a mine in Filabusi and manages his father's company, Jabulani Safaris.

Personal life Kanengoni-Malinga is married to Mpehlabayo Joshua Malinga, the son of former Mayor of Bulawayo and ZANU–PF Politburo member Joshua Malinga. Kanengoni-Malinga is from Mashonaland Central Province and her husband is from Bulawayo; they met at a ZANU–PF party conference in the capital, Harare. Her husband is also involved in politics, having served as secretary of external affairs in the party's Youth League. The couple has four daughters—Nandipha, Unathi, Mbali, and Thando—and resides in Borrowdale, an affluent suburb of Harare. She enjoys traveling, cooking, visiting friends, watching DStv, and following basketball.