Bantubonke Harrington Holomisa (born 25 July 1955) is a South African Member of Parliament and President of the

United Democratic Movement The United Democratic Movement (UDM) is a centre-left, social-democratic, South African political party, formed by a prominent former National Party leader, Roelf Meyer (who has since resigned from the UDM), a former African National Congress ...

. Holomisa was born in

Mqanduli Mqanduli is a town in OR Tambo District Municipality in the Eastern Cape province of South Africa. Village 30 km south of Mthatha Mthatha , formerly Umtata, is the main city of the King Sabata Dalindyebo Local Municipality in Eastern Cap ...

Cape Province The Province of the Cape of Good Hope ( af, Provinsie Kaap die Goeie Hoop), commonly referred to as the Cape Province ( af, Kaapprovinsie) and colloquially as The Cape ( af, Die Kaap), was a province in the Union of South Africa and subsequen ...

. He joined the

Transkei Defence Force The Transkei Defence Force (TDF) was established during March 1981, from the 141 Battalion of the South African Defence Force (SADF). It was the defence force of the Republic of Transkei, a nominally independent bantustan during the Apartheid e ...

in 1976 and had become a

brigadier Brigadier is a military rank, the seniority of which depends on the country. In some countries, it is a senior rank above colonel, equivalent to a brigadier general or commodore, typically commanding a brigade of several thousand soldiers. In ...

by 1985. Holomisa forced the resignation and exile of Prime Minister of Transkei

George Matanzima Chief George Mzimvubu Mathanzima (26 December 1918 in Qamata – 10 November 2000) was a leader of the Transkei bantustan in South Africa, a young brother of Kaiser Matanzima and a nephew of Nelson Mandela. He and his brother, Kaiser co-founded ...

in October 1987 and overthrew Matanzima's successor, Prime Minister

Stella Sigcau Princess Stella Sigcau (4 or 14 January 1937 in Lusikisiki – 7 May 2006 in Durban) was a Minister in the South African Government. Sigcau was also the first female Prime Minister of the bantustan of Transkei before being deposed in a milit ...

in a bloodless coup d'état in December 1987. Holomisa then became the

head of government The head of government is the highest or the second-highest official in the executive branch of a sovereign state, a federated state, or a self-governing colony, autonomous region, or other government who often presides over a cabinet, a gro ...

Transkei Transkei (, meaning ''the area beyond he riverKei''), officially the Republic of Transkei ( xh, iRiphabliki yeTranskei), was an unrecognised state in the southeastern region of South Africa from 1976 to 1994. It was, along with Ciskei, a Ban ...

from 1987 to 1994, upon which Transkei was reintegrated into the "new" South Africa and Holomisa joined the

African National Congress The African National Congress (ANC) is a Social democracy, social-democratic political party in Republic of South Africa, South Africa. A liberation movement known for its opposition to apartheid, it has governed the country since 1994, when ...

(ANC).

National politics

In 1994 Holomisa was elected to the

National Executive Committee of the African National Congress The National Executive Committee (NEC) of the African National Congress (ANC) is the party's chief executive organ. It is elected every five years at the party national conference; the executive committee, in turn, elects a National Working Comm ...

, and was the Deputy Minister of Environment and Tourism of South Africa.

Expulsion from the ANC

Holomisa testified to the

Truth and Reconciliation Commission A truth commission, also known as a truth and reconciliation commission or truth and justice commission, is an official body tasked with discovering and revealing past wrongdoing by a government (or, depending on the circumstances, non-state act ...

that Stella Sigcau should be investigated for corruption. Holomisa stated that Sigcau was involved in accepting bribes from South African hotel and casino magnate

Sol Kerzner Solomon Kerzner, (23 August 1935 – 21 March 2020) was a South African accountant and business magnate. He founded both of South Africa's largest hotel groups, the Southern Sun Hotel Group and Sun International. He was also the Founder, Chai ...

when she was minister of public enterprises in the Transkei government of

. Instead of investigating the accusations of corruption the ANC accused Holomisa of bringing the party into disrepute. Holomisa then also accused the ANC of also accepting funds and kickbacks from Kerzner. The ANC then expelled Holomisa on 30 September 1996. Deputy president

Thabo Mbeki Thabo Mvuyelwa Mbeki KStJ (; born 18 June 1942) is a South African politician who was the second president of South Africa from 14 June 1999 to 24 September 2008, when he resigned at the request of his party, the African National Congress (ANC ...

was instrumental in pushing for Holomisa's expulsion and recommended that there was no need to investigate Sigcau for corruption even though the circumstances of Sigcau accepting money from Kerzner were not in doubt.

Founding of the UDM

Holomisa co-founded the

(UDM) in 1997 with former ANC executive member John Taylor and

Roelf Meyer Roelof Petrus Meyer (born 16 July 1947) is a South African politician and businessman. Originally a member of the National Party, he is known for his prominent role in the negotiations to end the apartheid system in South Africa. He later co-f ...

, and was elected to parliament in 1999. Holomisa and the UDM supported a motion of no confidence in President Jacob Zuma on several occasions, including on 8 August 2017.

Personal life

Holomisa supports South African football club

Kaizer Chiefs Kaizer Chiefs Football Club (often known as Chiefs) are a South African professional football club based in Naturena, Johannesburg South, that plays in the Premier Soccer League. The team is nicknamed ''AmaKhosi'', which means "Lords" or "Chie ...

, for whom he declared his love in an interview with

Radio 702 702 is a commercial FM radio station based in Johannesburg, South Africa, broadcasting on FM 92.7 and FM 106 to the greater Gauteng province. The station is also webcast via its website. It claims to be Johannesburg's number one news and talk ...

in 2015.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Holomisa, Bantu 1955 births Living people People from King Sabata Dalindyebo Local Municipality Xhosa people African National Congress politicians United Democratic Movement (South Africa) politicians Members of the National Assembly of South Africa Heads of government of Transkei Leaders who took power by coup South African military personnel