Mavis Ntebaleng Matladi (nee Setou) was the first of three siblings. She attended school at Sedumedi Primary School at Letlhakeng in Madikwe. She matriculated at St Annes High School.
She was one of the first crop of graduates of the University of Bophuthatswana, (now called North West University) having majored in Setswana, English and Education.
Her first post was at Seabe High School, she then moved to Motswedi where she was appointed Head of Department in English and in 1990 she was appointed the first Head of Department in English at Lehurutshe College of Education.
She later, when colleges were closed down, took up a post at the then In - Service Training College, which was also shut down subsequently.
Mavis was a self made woman, having amassed degrees, BA Ed, B Ed and M Ed.
She cut her teeth in politics in 1995, by joining the United Christian Democratic Party, where she rose among the ranks and in 1996 became the Deputy Secretary.
In 1998 she was elected Secretary General, being the first woman to occupy such a post in any political party south of the Zambezi.
She represented the party in the North West Provincial Legislature from 1999 to 2009.
While member of the Legislature she served a number of committees and even chaired the Provincial Public Accounts Committee.
In 2009 she went to represent the Party in the National Assembly in Cape Town. She was elected by Parliament to represent the South African parliament in the Pan African Parliament. A further cap is that the women caucus of PAP elected Mavis to be their President.
This trail blazer made history once again when she was elected the first ever woman President of the United Christian Democratic Party on the 29 January 2011. Her election also made history in that she became the second leader of the party since it was established in 1972. This election turned to be a blessing to the party as for the very first time the party was represented by National Leader in Parliament.
Mavis wore a number of caps, she was National Deputy President of the Women's League, she also held prominent position in the women's prayer group of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Southern Africa at parish and diocese levels.
Mavis's health took a lower turn just after Local Government Elections of 2011.
She was subsequently admitted to a private medical facility in Johannesburg on 12 November 2011, where she succumbed to a respiratory failure on 02 December 2011.
She is survived by her loving husband her parents, mother in law and her three children and two grand children.
Her passing is a great loss to the party, the women across the world, politics on the continent and those who cherish robust intellectual exchanges.
May her soul rest in peace.
Sipho Mfundisi is Acting President of the UCDP
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