Ambassador Dumisani S. Kumalo is South Africa's Permanent Representative to the United Nations, New York. He presented his credentials to UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan on 21 April 1999.

For more than a decade, Ambassador Kumalo worked as a journalist in South Africa writing for various newspapers and magazines. In 1973, he was selected as one of 25 journalists from around the world to participate in the Multinational Foreign Journalists Project to study journalism at Indiana University in Bloomington, Indiana.

Upon his return to South Africa, Ambassador Kumalo worked in the private sector serving as Marketing Executive for a major oil company. In 1977, Ambassador Kumalo was forced into exile for his anti-apartheid activities and sought asylum in the United States where he lived in Brooklyn, New York. He was attached to the United Nations Observer Mission of the African National Congress.

During his stay in the United States, Ambassador Kumalo worked with the Phelps-Stokes Fund in programs aimed at strengthening the study of Africa in American colleges. Ambassador Kumalo traveled in many parts of the United States speaking to colleges about life under apartheid.

Ambassador Kumalo also served as Projects Director for the Africa Fund and the American Committee on Africa. As Projects Director, Ambassador Kumalo was responsible for organizing the divestment of public funds from banks and companies doing business in apartheid South Africa. The divestment movement led to the withdrawals of millions of dollars from South Africa thereby forcing the apartheid regime to make choices that led to the release of former President Nelson Mandela and other political prisoners.

Following the first democratic elections in South Africa in April 1994, Ambassador Kumalo returned to South Africa where he joined the Department of Foreign Affairs serving as Director of the United States Desk.

In 1999, President Mandela appointed Ambassador Kumalo to serve as South Africa's Ambassador to the United Nations. This appointment was endorsed by now President Thabo Mbeki who has appointed Ambassador Kumalo to serve a second term at the United Nations.

In the United Nations, Ambassador Kumalo has served in a number of capacities, including being voted Chair of the ECOSOC Ad Hoc Advisory Group on Burundi and Guinea-Bissau, Chair of the Commission on Social Development and Vice-President of the United Nations General Assembly. Ambassador Kumalo is currently facilitator for the reform of the United Nations that is expected to culminate in major changes of the United Nations in 2005.