Shameen Thakur Rajbansi Career and Success

Shameen Thakur-Rajbansi was born on 17 November 1964 in Durban and raised in northern KwaZulu-Natal, Newcastle.

From an early age, she displayed leadership qualities, participating in school debates that would later define her political and public life.

She went SE Vawda Primary (1974) and matriculated from St Oswald’s Secondary School (1982), where she was the Head Girl. Her tertiary education was at University of Durban-Westville, where she obtained a Bachelor of Pharmacy (BPharm) degree in 1988.

She purchased and ran Eastbury Pharmacy from 1990 to 2010 in Phoenix.

Her academic journey continued with a Master of Business Administration (MBA) from the University of KwaZulu-Natal in 2010, where she was a Golden Key recipient; Postgraduate Diploma in Public Administration 2015: (Top Student) and a Master of Management degree (2020), both from the Wits School of Governance.

Shameen Thakur-Rajbansi’s political leadership began with her role as head of the Minority Front (MF) Women’s League from 1998 to 2012. She served five consecutive terms in the KwaZulu-Natal Legislature from 1999 to 2024 and sat on influential portfolio committees eg: health, finance, environment, agriculture, petitions and social development. During her time in office, she was a strong voice for inclusive and rights-based policy making. Her contributions include driving legislation in support of LGBTQIA+ rights, improving early childhood development funding, and pushing reforms for innovative, progressive employment policies.

Her people-centeredness resulted in policies addressing child abandonment; bigger budgets for maternal and child healthcare; shifting key budgeted programmes across departments to improve service delivery. Her advocacy for sanitary products for schoolgirls, widows, grants, and flexible pharmacy pricing models became popular. Her parliamentary work focused on aligning provincial programmes with local, national and global development goals.

A compelling public speaker and skilled communicator, Shameen is widely respected for her ability to engage audiences on topics ranging from governance and  women’s empowerment to leadership and community development, which have led to current projects focused on a range of media and storytelling initiatives aimed at promoting political leadership and training; and inspiring the next generation through topical discussions.

Current projects:

The Tigress Talks Podcast – a social political podcast sharing insights and conversations from her career and experiences with key guests

The Bengal Tiger: A Rajbansi Story a movie based on key moments in the political life of the late Mr Amichand Rajbansi, founder of the Minority

Front

Will launch the Sindhoor Chamber of Commerce later this year

The Shameen Thakur- Rajbansi documentary – a short film on her early life, careers and family life, and life post the demise of her son Pradhil and future daughter-in-law, Priyanka.

A Book on the life of Amichand Rajbansi . A Book on the life of Shameen Thakur-Rajbansi

The Chanakya Knowledge Institute to train situational leaders

Facebook: @TheMinorityFrontLeader

This year there is much to look forward to, for a brighter and better working Durban as the Tigress marches forward to change the fortunes of the metro residents with state-of-the-art service delivery systems, doubled with safety and security measures and job creation programmes,

Shameen Thakur- Rajbansi, MF

Ethekwini Mayoral Candidate 2026.

For More Information, please visit   www.minorityfront.org