Comely Humphrey Maqocwa Maxegwana is a South African politician who represented 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) 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 ...

from 2014 until 2019, when he failed to gain re-election. Before that, he represented the ANC in the

Eastern Cape Provincial Legislature The Eastern Cape Provincial Legislature is the primary legislative body of the South African province of Eastern Cape. It is unicameral in its composition, and elects the premier and the provincial cabinet from among the members of the leading par ...

. He was a prominent

trade unionist A trade union (labor union in American English), often simply referred to as a union, is an organization of workers intent on "maintaining or improving the conditions of their employment", ch. I such as attaining better wages and Employee ben ...

in the

Eastern Cape The Eastern Cape is one of the provinces of South Africa. Its capital is Bhisho, but its two largest cities are East London and Gqeberha. The second largest province in the country (at 168,966 km2) after Northern Cape, it was formed in ...

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 ...

and is also a former Provincial Secretary of the ANC's Eastern Cape branch.

Apartheid-era activism

After matriculating in 1974, Maxegwana was active in the

South African Students' Movement The South African Students' Movement (SASM) was an anti-apartheid political organisation of South African school students, best known for its role in the 1976 Soweto uprising. By 1976 it was strongly identified with the Black Consciousness M ...

and, from 1977, the

Black People's Convention The Black People's Convention (BPC) was a national coordinating body for the Black Consciousness movement of South Africa. Envisaged as a broad-based counterpart to the South African Students' Organisation, the BPC was active in organising resis ...

, both anti-apartheid organisations affiliated to the

Black Consciousness movement The Black Consciousness Movement (BCM) was a grassroots anti-Apartheid activist movement that emerged in South Africa in the mid-1960s out of the political vacuum created by the jailing and banning of the African National Congress and Pan Afri ...

. In 1977, he was recruited to the

South African Congress of Trade Unions The South African Congress of Trade Unions (SACTU) was a national trade union federation in South Africa. History The federation was established in March 1955, after right wing unions dissolved the South African Trades and Labour Council in 1954 to ...

(SACTU); he was an underground operative for SACTU in

East London East or Orient is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from west and is the direction from which the Sun rises on the Earth. Etymology As in other languages, the word is formed from the f ...

and later worked closely with the

South African Allied Workers' Union The South African Allied Workers' Union (SAAWU) was a general union in South Africa. The union was founded in 1978 as a split from the Black Allied Workers' Union by workers in Durban. It described itself as a federation, with a union in each in ...

. SACTU sent him abroad in 1985.

Provincial legislature

After the end of apartheid, Maxegwana represented the ANC in the

. He was Provincial Secretary of the ANC's

branch, serving under Provincial Chairperson

Makhenkesi Stofile Makhenkesi Arnold Stofile (27 December 1944 – 15 August 2016) was a South African politician. He was Minister of Sport and Recreation from 2004 to 2010. At the time of his death he was serving as Ambassador to Germany. Stofile was born in Adel ...

, from 1996 until 2006, when he was replaced by Siphatho Handi. He also served as Majority Party Chief Whip in the legislature until August 2013, when the ANC removed him in line with a party resolution that all Chief Whips should be selected from among members of the party's internal Provincial Executive Committees; he was replaced by Mzoleli Mrara.

National Assembly

In the 2014 general election, Maxegwana did not stand for re-election to the provincial legislature but instead was elected to a seat in the

, the lower 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 ...

; he was ranked tenth on the ANC's provincial-to-national party list for the Eastern Cape. In May 2016, the ANC announced that he would additionally serve as Chairperson of the Portfolio Committee on Communications and Digital Technologies, replacing Joyce Moloi-Moropa, who had resigned from Parliament. He departed that position in late October 2018, when the ANC nominated him to replace

Amos Masondo Nkosiyakhe Amos Masondo (born 21 April 1953 in Louwsburg) is a South African politician, who has served as the Chairperson of South Africa's National Council of Provinces since 23 May 2019. He was the mayor of the city of Johannesburg, South Afr ...

as co-chairperson of the Joint Committee on Ethics and Members' Interests. In the 2019 general election, he was ranked 166th on the ANC's national party list and was not re-elected to his legislative seat.

Local government

In July 2020, Maxegwana was elected to succeed Alfred Mtsi as Speaker of the

Buffalo City Metropolitan Municipality Buffalo City is a metropolitan municipality situated on the east coast of Eastern Cape Province, South Africa. It includes the towns of East London, Bhisho and Qonce, as well as the large townships of Mdantsane and Zwelitsha. History The muni ...

council; he received 54 votes against the 22 votes received by the opposition candidate, the Democratic Alliance's Geoffrey Walton. After the local elections of November 2021,

IOL Cherchell (Arabic: شرشال) is a town on Algeria's Mediterranean coast, west of Algiers. It is the seat of Cherchell District in Tipaza Province. Under the names Iol and Caesarea, it was formerly a Roman colony and the capital of the kin ...

reported that Maxegwana was one of three leading contenders for the position of Mayor of Buffalo City. He was not ultimately elected to the mayoral office but remained in office as Speaker.

References

External links

* Living people Year of birth missing (living people) African National Congress politicians Members of the National Assembly of South Africa 21st-century South African politicians Members of the Eastern Cape Provincial Legislature Date of birth missing (living people) Place of birth missing (living people) {{DEFAULTSORT:Maxegwana_Humphrey