In February 2018, she was sacked by Zuma's successor, President Cyril Ramaphosa, and she retreated briefly to the chairmanship of the Portfolio Committee on Communications.

[1] In 1976, she completed a Bachelor of Arts in psychology, social work, and sociology from the University of Zululand,[1] where she was involved in student activism.

[7] Through much of her career in civil society, Mkhize was also an active member of the African National Congress (ANC), the post-apartheid governing party.

[1] In 2005, President Thabo Mbeki appointed Mkhize as South African Ambassador to the Netherlands, a post she held until 2008.

[1] In this capacity, she chaired the executive council of the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons during the early 2000s and was vice-president of the Member States at the International Criminal Court from 2006 to 2008.

[8] She remained in the treasury for a single extended term, which lasted until August 2015 due to delays in holding the next elective conference.

[18][19][20] Also controversial was Mkhize's decision to place Mkuseli Apleni, the director-general of the Department of Home Affairs, on precautionary suspension.

Apleni said that she did not have proper grounds for the suspension and threatened to sue the ministry, while the Select Committee on Social Services raised its own doubts about the decision.

[21] Mkhize spent less than a year in the home affairs portfolio before, on 17 October 2017, she was appointed as Minister of Higher Education and Training, succeeding her former boss, Blade Nzimande.

[12] Pursuant to the 2019 general election, Ramaphosa appointed Mkhize as Deputy Minister in the Presidency for Women, Youth and Persons with Disabilities.

[26] She served in the office until her death in 2021, making her last parliamentary appearance on 19 August 2021 when she cast her vote to elect Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula as the Speaker of the National Assembly.