Bertha Amanda Joyce Matshoge (1959/1960 – 25 June 2016), commonly known as Joy Matshoge, was a South African politician who served as

Limpopo Limpopo is the northernmost province of South Africa. It is named after the Limpopo River, which forms the province's western and northern borders. The capital and largest city in the province is Polokwane, while the provincial legislature is ...

's Member of the Executive Council (MEC) for Agriculture and Rural Development from May 2014 until her death in June 2016. Before that, from 2013 to 2014, she was the Deputy Speaker of the

Limpopo Provincial Legislature The Limpopo Provincial Legislature is the primary legislative body of the South African province of Limpopo. It is unicameral in its composition, and elects the premier and the provincial cabinet, the Limpopo Executive Council, from among the ...

, where she had 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) since 2008. At the time of her death, she was also the Provincial Chairperson of the

ANC Women's League The African National Congress Women's League (ANCWL) is an auxiliary women's political organization of the African National Congress, African National Congress (ANC) of South Africa. This organization has its precedent in the Bantu Women's League ...

in Limpopo, a position to which she had been elected in September 2015.

Political career

Matshoge was formerly a nurse and later worked as a manager in the social services division at

Modimolle Local Municipality Modimolle Local Municipality was a municipality located in the Waterberg District Municipality of Limpopo province, South Africa. The seat of Modimolle Local Municipality was Modimolle. After municipal elections on 3 August 2016 it was merged into ...

and Waterberg District Municipality. She was first sworn in 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 Limpopo Provincial Legislature in 2008. She was re-elected to her seat in the 2009 general election and in July 2013 she succeeded

Joyce Mashamba Happy Joyce Mashamba (25 September 1950 – 20 June 2018) was a South African politician and veteran of the African National Congress (ANC). At the time of her death, she was Member of the Executive Council (MEC) for Agriculture and Rural Deve ...

as Deputy Speaker in the provincial legislature, deputising Elias Nong. The following year, in the 2014 general election, she was re-elected to her legislative seat, ranked 18th on the ANC's provincial

party 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 ...

. She was also appointed to the

Limpopo Executive Council The Executive Council (South Africa), Executive Council of Limpopo is the cabinet of the executive branch of the Provincial governments of South Africa, provincial government in the South African Provinces of South Africa, province of Limpopo. T ...

by Premier Stan Mathabatha, who named her as MEC for Agriculture and Rural Development. While she was in office, the opposition Democratic Alliance lodged a formal complaint against her with 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 ...

, Thuli Madonsela, alleging that she had benefitted unduly from a government project devised to award cattle to poor farmers. Specifically, it was alleged that Matshoge had awarded herself 51 Nguni cattle, worth about R1-million, between November 2013 and July 2014. As of November 2015, the Public Protector's investigation was ongoing. Also during her tenure as an MEC, in September 2015, Matshoge was elected unopposed as Provincial Chairperson of the Limpopo branch of the ANC Women's League; she succeeded Maite Marutha, who declined a nomination to stand for re-election. She remained in that office at the time of her death in 2016.

Personal life and death

Matshoge was married to Chesane and had two sons, Fandi and Karabo, and one daughter, Gontse. She died in a car accident on 25 June 2016 at the age of 56. She had been travelling alone on the N1 between

Mookgophong Mookgophong, also known as Naboomspruit, is a town in the Limpopo province of South Africa. The town is located approximately 42 km north-east of Modimolle and 51 km south-west of Mokopane. History It was founded on the farm Vischgat in ...

and

Mokopane Mokopane, also known as Potgietersrus, is a town in the Limpopo province of South Africa. The town name was changed to Mokopane in 2003 in honour of a local Ma Nrebele leader, King Mghombane Gheghana , who ruled the area before being conquered ...

when her vehicle overturned. 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 ...

granted her a provincial official funeral, and

Pinky Kekana Pinky Sharon Kekana (born 14 July 1966) is a South African politician who is currently serving as the Deputy Minister in the Presidency. She was first appointed to the national executive in February 2018 when President Cyril Ramaphosa named her a ...

, then the Deputy Minister of Communications, spoke at a memorial lecture held in her honour in August 2018. In September 2016, Mapula Mokaba-Phukwana was appointed to succeed her as MEC for Agriculture and Rural Development.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Matshoge, Joy 2016 deaths Members of the Limpopo Provincial Legislature African National Congress politicians 21st-century South African politicians Road incident deaths in South Africa