Her political activism began in 1974 following a brief contact with Healdtown high School Students. She joined the Student Christian Movement (SCM) at Newell High School in Port Elizabeth.

She later joined Lovedale training college, it is this development that heightened her political interest and she honed her political consciousness and influence during her strides in helping establish the Alice ANC Sub-Branch working with the local ANC organizer in Alice. Her influence grew as she participated in college activities of Student Christian Movement and immediately after graduating from the college, she served in NEUSA (National Educators Union of South Africa). She then went on to serve in SADTU (South African Democratic Teachers Union) Structures in the Executive Committee for three consecutive terms as Treasurer.

She taught at Masakhane Lower Primary School and Luvuyo Higher Primary in Whittlesea as a part time educator and later joined Local Government as Transitional Local Councils (TLC) Mayor in Whitlesea-Hewu where she served as a Whitlesea TLC Rep in the Chris Hani District Municipality. After the first Democratic local Government elections, she was elected as a Proportional Representative Councilor to the Chris Hani District Municipality serving in the Mayoral Committee and was appointed as a portfolio head to the Governance and Institutional Development Standing Committee of the council. She also served in the SALGA Human Resource Working Group both provincially and nationally.

It is during this time that she served as an executive member of the South African local Government Bargaining Council (SALGBC) at National and Provincial Levels as well as the Chairperson of the Bargaining Central Divisional Plenary and the Provincial Human Resource Development Working Group, Chairperson of the Local Labour Forum and the Chairperson of the Remunerations Committee. In 2006 Local Government Election, she was elected to serve another term in the Chris Hani District Municipality and was deployed to head the Infrastructure Development Standing Committee also knows as the Engineering Standing Committee.

She became the Provincial Executive Committee member of LG- SETA (Local Government Sector Education and Training Authority), Her involvement in the Women’s League saw her becoming the chairperson of the ANC Women’s League at Ekuphumleni Branch, later became the Provincial Executive Committee member of the ANCWL from 1993 to 2003. From 2001 to 2006 she was the ANCWL Head of Organizing Campaigns and Finance Sub-Committees, respectively.

She has participated in the NGO Sector and she served in different capacities, in 1997 to 2003, she was the National Board member of Malibongwe and in 1999 she served in the capacity of the Provincial Secretary to the same organization.

In 2008 she was elected as Chairperson of the ANC Women’s League in the Eastern Cape Province, and the member of the National Executive Committee and the National Working Committee member of the African National Congress Women’s League.

The ANC deployed her to the Legislature and after the 2009 National and Provincial Elections, the ANC deployed her to the Provincial Executive Committee of the Eastern Cape Provincial Government, and currently serving as the MEC for Social Development and the Chairperson for the Cabinet Social Needs Standing Committee.