Collen Maine is a South African politician who was the president of 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)
Youth League between 2015 and 2019. He was formerly a
Member of the Executive Council
In South Africa, the Executive Council of a province is the cabinet of the provincial government. The Executive Council consists of the Premier and five to ten other members,'' Constitution of the Republic of South Africa, 1996'', Chapter 6: "P ...
and
Member of the Provincial Legislature
Member of the Provincial Legislature (MPL) is a title given to the members of eight of the nine Provincial legislature (South Africa), provincial legislatures in South Africa. The Constitution of the Western Cape, Western Cape provincial constitu ...
in
North West province
North West is a province of South Africa. Its capital is Mahikeng. The province is located to the west of the major population centre of Gauteng and south of Botswana.
History
North West was incorporated after the end of Apartheid in 1994, an ...
during the
premiership of
Thandi Modise
Thandi Modise (born 25 December 1959) is a South African politician who is currently serving as the Minister of Defence and Military Veterans. She was previously the Premier of the North West from 2010 to 2014, Chairperson of the National Counci ...
and
Supra Mahumapelo
Supra Obakeng Ramoeletsi Mahumapelo is a South African politician and musician. He served as the Provincial Secretary of the African National Congress North West Provincial Leadership from 2011 until August 2018. He previously served as Speaker ...
, and he has served in both houses of the national
Parliament of South Africa
The Parliament of the Republic of South Africa is South Africa's legislature; under the present Constitution of South Africa, the bicameral Parliament comprises a National Assembly and a National Council of Provinces. The current twenty-seve ...
. In December 2017, he was elected to a five-year term on the ANC's
National Executive Committee National Executive Committee is the name of a leadership body in several organizations, mostly political parties:
* National Executive Committee of the African National Congress, in South Africa
* Australian Labor Party National Executive
* Nationa ...
.
Early career
Mokone Collen Maine
was born during
apartheid
Apartheid (, especially South African English: , ; , "aparthood") was a system of institutionalised racial segregation that existed in South Africa and South West Africa (now Namibia) from 1948 to the early 1990s. Apartheid was ...
,
in 1980 or 1981,
and is from the region that is now the
North West province
North West is a province of South Africa. Its capital is Mahikeng. The province is located to the west of the major population centre of Gauteng and south of Botswana.
History
North West was incorporated after the end of Apartheid in 1994, an ...
of South Africa.
In his account, he was a member of the
Congress of South African Students
The Congress of South African Students (COSAS) is an anti-apartheid Student Organisation established in 1979 in the wake of the June 16 Soweto Uprisings in 1976 in South Africa.
Background
COSAS was formed in June 1979 after the South African Stu ...
in his youth, 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)
Youth League (ANCYL) in 1996, and served as a regional organiser for the ANC Youth League in
Bophirima in the North West until he became deputy provincial chairperson of the league in the North West in 2008.
The ''
Daily Maverick
''Daily Maverick'' is a South African daily online publication and weekly print newspaper, with offices in Cape Town and Johannesburg. Its readership is spread across South Africa and the world, with approximately 8 million readers per month. I ...
'' reported that, according to the North West provincial leader of the rival
Congress of the People (COPE), Maine was a member of COPE until 2009; Maine denied this.
Pursuant to the
2009 general election, Maine was elected as a North West delegate to the
National Council of Provinces
The National Council of Provinces (NCOP) is the upper house of the Parliament of South Africa under the (post-apartheid) constitution which came into full effect in 1997. It replaced the former Senate, but is very similar to that body, and to ma ...
, the upper house of the
South African Parliament
The Parliament of the Republic of South Africa is South Africa's legislature; under the present Constitution of South Africa, the bicameral Parliament comprises a National Assembly and a National Council of Provinces. The current twenty-seve ...
.
In June 2013,
he was appointed a
Member of the Executive Council
In South Africa, the Executive Council of a province is the cabinet of the provincial government. The Executive Council consists of the Premier and five to ten other members,'' Constitution of the Republic of South Africa, 1996'', Chapter 6: "P ...
(MEC) in the provincial government of
North West Premier Thandi Modise
Thandi Modise (born 25 December 1959) is a South African politician who is currently serving as the Minister of Defence and Military Veterans. She was previously the Premier of the North West from 2010 to 2014, Chairperson of the National Counci ...
; his portfolio was social development and women, children and people with disability. In the
next general election in 2014, he was elected as a
Member
Member may refer to:
* Military jury, referred to as "Members" in military jargon
* Element (mathematics), an object that belongs to a mathematical set
* In object-oriented programming, a member of a class
** Field (computer science), entries in ...
of the
North West Provincial Legislature
The North West Provincial Legislature is the primary legislative body of the South African province of North West (South Africa), North West. It is unicameral in its composition, and elects the premier and the provincial cabinet from among the memb ...
.
He was also appointed MEC for local government and human settlements under newly elected Premier
Supra Mahumapelo
Supra Obakeng Ramoeletsi Mahumapelo is a South African politician and musician. He served as the Provincial Secretary of the African National Congress North West Provincial Leadership from 2011 until August 2018. He previously served as Speaker ...
.
In addition, during this period he disclosed financial interests in several companies.
President of the ANC Youth League
Election
By 2015, Maine was the provincial chairperson of the ANC Youth League in the North West,
which supported his candidacy for the national presidency of the league.
On 4 September 2015, at the league's 25th national elective conference in
Midrand
Midrand is a former municipality in central Gauteng, South Africa. It is situated in-between Centurion and Sandton and now forms part of the City of Johannesburg Metropolitan Municipality.
History
Midrand was established as a municipality in 1 ...
, he was elected unopposed as national president of the ANC Youth League, with
Desmond Moela as his deputy.
Pule Mabe
Puleng Peter Mabe (born 19 March 1980) is a South African politician and a member of the African National Congress.
Mabe is the current national spokesperson for the African National Congress, the current ruling party of South Africa. Mabe succee ...
,
Ronald Lamola
Ronald Ozzy Lamola (born 21 November 1983) is a South African lawyer and politician, Minister of Justice and Correctional Services, and a member of the African National Congress (ANC). He has also been serving as a Member of the National Assemb ...
, and Lesego Makhubela were all viewed as Maine's competitors, but none made it to the final ballot; declining a nomination to stand for the deputy presidency, Lamola said that the electoral process was "a farce".
Maine's candidacy was reportedly supported by the so-called Premier League, comprising the
Premiers
Premier is a title for the head of government in central governments, state governments and local governments of some countries. A second in command to a premier is designated as a deputy premier.
A premier will normally be a head of governm ...
and
ANC provincial chairpersons of the North West (Mahumapelo),
Free State (
Ace Magashule
Elias Sekgobelo "Ace" Magashule (born 3 November 1959) is a South African politician and former anti-apartheid activist who was Secretary General of the African National Congress (ANC) until his suspension on 3 May 2021. He served as the Premier ...
), and
Mpumalanga
Mpumalanga () is a province of South Africa. The name means "East", or literally "The Place Where the Sun Rises" in the Swazi, Xhosa, Ndebele and Zulu languages. Mpumalanga lies in eastern South Africa, bordering Eswatini and Mozambique. It ...
(
David Mabuza
David Dabede "DD" Mabuza (born 25 August 1960) is a South African politician who has been Deputy President of South Africa since February 2018. He was the Deputy President of the African National Congress (ANC) from December 2017 to December 2022 ...
).
Mahumpelo had reportedly supported Maine's rise through the North West Youth League in earlier years.
Maine's age attracted media interest, given the Youth League's rule that only persons under 35 were eligible for membership and leadership positions: he insisted that he was "34.5" at the time of the conference.
His MEC position also attracted interest, since the Youth League presidency is typically a full-time job based out of
Luthuli House, the ANC's headquarters in
Johannesburg
Johannesburg ( , , ; Zulu and xh, eGoli ), colloquially known as Jozi, Joburg, or "The City of Gold", is the largest city in South Africa, classified as a megacity, and is one of the 100 largest urban areas in the world. According to Demo ...
. After his election, Maine initially signalled his willingness to resign from the North West government, but in October he reversed his position; the league's newly elected provincial secretary,
Njabulo Nzuza, said the Youth League's national executive committee had decided that the presidency would no longer be a full-time position and that Maine could hold retain his MEC post simultaneously. In early November 2015, however, Maine resigned from the Executive Council and was replaced by
Wendy Nelson in an acting capacity; he did not publicly explain his reasons for resigning.
Support for Zuma and Dlamini-Zuma
While Maine was Youth League president, he and the league under him became outspoken supporters of incumbent ANC president
Jacob Zuma
Jacob Gedleyihlekisa Zuma (; born 12 April 1942) is a South African politician who served as the fourth president of South Africa from 2009 to 2018. He is also referred to by his initials JZ and clan name Msholozi, and was a former anti-aparth ...
, then serving his second term as
President of South Africa
The president of South Africa is the head of state and head of government of the Republic of South Africa. The president heads the executive branch of the Government of South Africa and is the commander-in-chief of the South African Nationa ...
. For example, amid the
Public Protector
The Public Protector in South Africa is one of six independent state institutions set up by the country's Constitution to support and defend democracy.
According to Section 181 of the Constitution:
* These institutions are independent, and subje ...
's investigation into allegations of
state capture by Zuma's associates, Maine attended a "Hands Off Zuma" rally in
Durban
Durban ( ) ( zu, eThekwini, from meaning 'the port' also called zu, eZibubulungwini for the mountain range that terminates in the area), nicknamed ''Durbs'',Ishani ChettyCity nicknames in SA and across the worldArticle on ''news24.com'' from ...
, where he urged veterans of the ANC's anti-apartheid armed wing,
Umkhonto we Sizwe, to "bring your guns. Now is the time to defend the revolution". Maine also publicly supported some of Zuma's
left-wing populist
Left-wing populism, also called social populism, is a political ideology that combines left-wing politics with populist rhetoric and themes. Its rhetoric often consists of anti- elitism, opposition to the Establishment, and speaking for the "com ...
policy proposals, particularly free
higher education
Higher education is tertiary education leading to award of an academic degree. Higher education, also called post-secondary education, third-level or tertiary education, is an optional final stage of formal learning that occurs after completi ...
and an assault on so-called "
white monopoly capital White Monopoly Capital is a South African phrase used in contemporary political discourse. The origin of the term, the exact meaning of the term, and even the existence of what the term is thought to mean is disputed. The term is thought to mean ...
".
Ahead of the ANC's
54th National Conference, which would elect Zuma's successor as ANC president, the Youth League endorsed Zuma's favoured candidate,
Nkosazana Dlamina-Zuma.
Maine personally was a strong supporter of Dlamini-Zuma.
At the conference in December 2017, Dlamini-Zuma was beaten by
Cyril Ramaphosa
Matamela Cyril Ramaphosa (born 17 November 1952) is a South African businessman and politician who is currently serving as the fifth democratically elected president of South Africa. Formerly an anti-apartheid activist, trade union leader, and ...
, who became national president in February 2018.
Maine subsequently appeared to temper his pro-Zuma activism;
he publicly pledged the league's loyalty to Ramaphosa as ANC president. In April 2018, the deputy secretary of the ANC Youth League, Thandi Moraka, told a gathering that Maine had approached Ramaphosa after the 54th National Conference to "apologise" on behalf of the Youth League for supporting Dlamini-Zuma. Moraka said of Maine that "he doesn't deserve to be called a comrade, because he is a sellout of note" and called for him to resign from the league.
National Assembly
As president of the Youth League, Maine automatically became an
ex officio
An ''ex officio'' member is a member of a body (notably a board, committee, council) who is part of it by virtue of holding another office. The term '' ex officio'' is Latin, meaning literally 'from the office', and the sense intended is 'by right ...
member of the ANC
National Executive Committee National Executive Committee is the name of a leadership body in several organizations, mostly political parties:
* National Executive Committee of the African National Congress, in South Africa
* Australian Labor Party National Executive
* Nationa ...
, the party's top decision-making body; at the 54th National Conference in December 2017, he was directly elected onto the committee for a five-year term, receiving the votes of 1,572 of the 4,283 delegates who submitted ballot papers. In the
2019 general election, in which the ANC renewed its majority, he was included on the party's
electoral list
An electoral list is a grouping of candidates for election, usually found in proportional or mixed electoral systems, but also in some plurality electoral systems. An electoral list can be registered by a political party (a party list) or can ...
and was elected to a seat in the
National Assembly
In politics, a national assembly is either a unicameral legislature, the lower house of a bicameral legislature, or both houses of a bicameral legislature together. In the English language it generally means "an assembly composed of the repre ...
, the lower house of the national Parliament.
He was sworn in on 22 May 2019 and became a member of the
portfolio committee on
public service and administration; despite speculation to the contrary, he was not appointed to
Ramaphosa's cabinet.
On 5 July 2019, Maine announced that he would resign from his seat in the National Assembly due to "private matters".
News24 reported that his resignation was effective immediately.
Succession
The ANC Youth League failed to hold its elective conference in September 2018 as planned. In 2019, some members within the league, led especially by a group calling itself the Revive ANCYL Movement,
began calling for the election of a new leadership corps, including by protesting outside an ANC National Executive Committee meeting
and threatening a
lawsuit
-
A lawsuit is a proceeding by a party or parties against another in the civil court of law. The archaic term "suit in law" is found in only a small number of laws still in effect today. The term "lawsuit" is used in reference to a civil actio ...
.
They argued both that many of the league's incumbent leaders were over the age of 35 and therefore ineligible to represent the ANC's youth and that they had overstayed their term (three years in terms of the league constitution).
In late July 2019, just weeks after Maine's resignation from Parliament, the ANC National Executive Committee disbanded the national executive of the Youth League, ending the terms of Maine and other league officials.
Maine was nonetheless among the several former ANC Youth League presidents who were appointed as members of the interim task team that was installed to lead the province until it could hold fresh leadership elections.
Controversies
Relationship to the Gupta family
Maine's defence of Zuma occasionally extended to a defence of Zuma's associates in the controversial
Gupta family
The Gupta family is a wealthy Indian-born family with business interests in South Africa, whose most notable members are brothers Ajay, Atul, and Rajesh "Tony" Gupta—as well as Atul's nephews Varun, and US-based Ashish and Amol. The family ow ...
, who were alleged to be involved in state capture under
Zuma's administration. In February 2016, for example, Maine was quoted as saying "an attack on the Guptas is an attack on the ANC".
In May 2016,
amaBhungane
AmaBhungane Centre for Investigative Journalism is an investigative journalism organisation focusing primarily on exposing political corruption in South Africa and neighbouring countries. They say that their name means “dung beetles” in isi ...
reported that there was evidence to "suggest" that Maine "received a generous helping hand from the Gupta family" through a loan which helped he and his wife to purchase a
R5.4 million house on a golf estate outside
Pretoria
Pretoria () is South Africa's administrative capital, serving as the seat of the Executive (government), executive branch of government, and as the host to all foreign embassies to South Africa.
Pretoria straddles the Apies River and extends ...
. They had bought the house in October 2015, weeks after Maine's election as ANC Youth League president.
Dismissing allegations that he had personal ties to the Guptas, Maine said, "If engaging stakeholders is being captured, then I am captured... but mainly I am captured by the responsibility I was given by the ANCYL". He also clarified that in his defence of the Guptas, "I was dealing with those issues as a matter of principle, not that I have anything to do with them".
In June 2017, amaBhungane further reported that the so-called
Gupta Leaks suggested that Maine and other Youth League leaders had been assisted by
Bell Pottinger
Bell Pottinger Private (legally BPP Communications Ltd.) was a British multinational public relations, reputation management and marketing company headquartered in London, United Kingdom. On 12 September 2017 it went into administration (bankr ...
, a
public relations
Public relations (PR) is the practice of managing and disseminating information from an individual or an organization (such as a business, government agency, or a nonprofit organization) to the public in order to influence their perception. P ...
firm retained by a Gupta-owned company, in devising public remarks.
In April 2018, during a speech at a memorial service for ANC stalwart
Winnie Madikizela-Mandela
Winnie Madikizela-Mandela (born Nomzamo Winifred Zanyiwe Madikizela; 26 September 1936 – 2 April 2018), also known as Winnie Mandela, was a South African anti-apartheid activist and politician, and the second wife of Nelson Mandela. She ser ...
, Maine admitted that he had met the Guptas at their home. He said that he had not intended to go but had been "taken there", and that he had been taken not by Zuma but by Supra Mahumapelo.
At the time Mahumapelo was confronting fierce opposition, in which Maine was thought to be involved, to his leadership of the North West.
In connection with Maine's allegation, Mahumapelo said, "Reckless drivers who cause accidents on the roads must never blame the
driving school
''Driving School'' is a docusoap that was broadcast on BBC1 in the summer of 1997, which followed a group of learner drivers around Bristol and South Wales. The series was made on a reduced budget but shown in primetime, it created one of the ...
for introducing them to driving".
News24 described Maine's remarks as his "
Damascus moment, turning against a man
ahumapelowho had long been seen as his political mentor".
Zondo Commission
Investing allegations of state capture under Zuma's administration, the
Zondo Commission
The Judicial Commission of Inquiry into Allegations of State Capture, Corruption and Fraud in the Public Sector including Organs of State, better known as the Zondo Commission or State Capture Commission, is a public inquiry established in Janu ...
found that Zuma supporters within the
State Security Agency had set up a
VIP protection unit
The VIP Protection Unit ( Abbreviation: VIPPU; ), otherwise known as G4 (originally Section G, Division 4) is a branch of the Hong Kong Police Force.
Introduction
The original name had been given to the unit since it is the 4th division of the ...
in the agency's Special Operations division, technically usurping a function of the
South African Police Service
The South African Police Service (SAPS) is the national police force of the Republic of South Africa. Its 1,154 police stations in South Africa are divided according to the provincial borders, and a Provincial Commissioner is appointed in ea ...
. The protection unit offered special protection to Zuma and various associates, including Maine.
Personal life
He is married to Kelebogile Maine
and as of 2015 had three children.
References
External links
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Maine, Collen
Living people
African National Congress politicians
People from North West (South African province)
Year of birth missing (living people)