Lebogang Isaac Maile (born 26 December 1979) is a South African politician currently serving as

Gauteng Gauteng ( ) is one of the nine provinces of South Africa. The name in Sotho-Tswana languages means 'place of gold'. Situated on the Highveld, Gauteng is the smallest province by land area in South Africa. Although Gauteng accounts for only ...

's Member of the Executive Council (MEC) for Human Settlements and Infrastructure Development. A member 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), he has served in the

Gauteng Provincial Legislature The Gauteng Provincial Legislature is the legislature of the South African province of Gauteng. It is a unicameral body of 73 members elected every five years. The current legislature, the sixth, was elected on 8 May 2019 and has an African Natio ...

since May 2009 and in the

Gauteng Executive Council The Executive Council of Gauteng is the cabinet of the executive branch of the provincial government in the South African province of Gauteng. The Members of the Executive Council (MECs) are appointed from among the members of the Gauteng Prov ...

since 2010. Maile is a former president 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 ...

and chaired the Gauteng branch of the ANC Youth League from 2010 to 2013. In subsequent years he held the portfolios of MEC for Sports, Arts, Culture and Recreation from November 2010 to May 2014; MEC for Economic Development from May 2014 to May 2019; and MEC for Human Settlements, Urban Planning and Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs from May 2019 until October 2022, when he was appointed to his current position.

Early life and education

Maile was born on 26 December 1979. He grew up in

Alexandra Alexandra () is the feminine form of the given name Alexander (, ). Etymologically, the name is a compound of the Greek verb (; meaning 'to defend') and (; GEN , ; meaning 'man'). Thus it may be roughly translated as "defender of man" or "prot ...

and matriculated at Crawford College 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 ...

. His brother is Mike Maile. He obtained a tertiary certificate in intergovernmental relations and a diploma in public relations, and in April 2017 graduated from the

University of the Witwatersrand The University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg (), is a multi-campus South African Public university, public research university situated in the northern areas of central Johannesburg. It is more commonly known as Wits University or Wits ( o ...

with a certificate in leadership and governance. In October 2023, Maile was conferred with a

Bachelor of Laws Bachelor of Laws ( la, Legum Baccalaureus; LL.B.) is an undergraduate law degree in the United Kingdom and most common law jurisdictions. Bachelor of Laws is also the name of the law degree awarded by universities in the People's Republic of Chi ...

(LLB) from the

University of South Africa The University of South Africa (UNISA), known colloquially as Unisa, is the largest university system in South Africa by enrollment. It attracts a third of all higher education students in South Africa. Through various colleges and affiliates, U ...

Political career

From 1996 to 2000, Maile served as the President of the

. He was succeeded in that office by

Julius Malema Julius Sello Malema (born 3 March 1981) is a South African politician and activist who is a Member of Parliament and the leader of the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF), a left-wing party which he founded in 2013. He was formerly the President of ...

. He was later chair of the

Youth Commission between 2006 and 2009.

Provincial legislature: 2009–2010

Pursuant to the 2009 election, he was elected to the

on the

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 ...

of the

(ANC). He was assigned to the legislature's committees on education, finance and scrutiny, and subordinate legislation. Maile was also a prominent member of the ANC Youth League (ANCYL) in Gauteng; his local party branch was in

Centurion A centurion (; la, centurio , . la, centuriones, label=none; grc-gre, κεντυρίων, kentyríōn, or ) was a position in the Roman army during classical antiquity, nominally the commander of a century (), a military unit of around 80 ...

. News24 reported that he played a critical role at the mainstream ANC's Gauteng provincial elective conference in May 2010, lobbying ANCYL branches to back

Paul Mashatile Paul Shipokosa Mashatile (born 21 October 1961) is a South African politician who is currently the Deputy President of the governing African National Congress (ANC). Before his election to that position in December 2022, he was ANC Treasurer Ge ...

's successful bid for re-election as ANC Provincial Chairperson. On 15 August 2010, Maile was elected Provincial Chairperson of the Gauteng ANCYL, with Simon Molefe as his deputy. According to the ''

Sunday Times ''The Sunday Times'' is a British newspaper whose circulation makes it the largest in Britain's quality press market category. It was founded in 1821 as ''The New Observer''. It is published by Times Newspapers Ltd, a subsidiary of News UK, whi ...

'', Maile's campaign was backed unofficially by Mashatile, while the other candidate, Thabo Kupa, had the support of Julius Malema, then the ANCYL President, and of Nomvula Mokonyane, then the Premier of Gauteng.

Executive Council: 2010–2022

Mokonyane premiership: 2010–2014

In November 2010, Premier Mokonyane appointed Maile to her Executive Council as Member of the Executive Council (MEC) for Sports, Arts, Culture and Recreation. He was appointed alongside

Ntombi Mekgwe Ntombi Lentheng Mekgwe is a South African politician who has been Speaker of the Gauteng Provincial Legislature since 2014. Before that, she was a Member of the Executive Council (MEC) in the Gauteng provincial government from 2010 to 2014 and th ...

and Humphrey Mmemezi, who were also considered "long-time loyalists" of Paul Mashatile, and it was widely believed that the provincial ANC under Mashatile's leadership had forced Mokonyane to make the appointments. The following year, Maile was considered a contender for the post of national ANCYL President. At the league's elective conference in June 2011, he declined a nomination to stand for the position, leaving Malema to stand for re-election unopposed. In late 2013, Maile left his provincial ANCYL office when the league's national leadership disbanded the provincial leadership corps;

Matome Chiloane Matome Kopano Chiloane is a South African politician who has been the Member of the Executive Council (MEC) for Education in Gauteng since October 2022. He has been a Member of the Gauteng Provincial Legislature since March 2018, representing the ...

succeeded him as ANCYL Provincial Chairperson in August 2014.

Makhura premiership: 2014–2022

In the 2014 general election, Maile was re-elected to the provincial legislature, ranked sixth on the ANC's party list. Newly elected Premier

David Makhura Manemolla David Makhura (born 22 February 1968) is a South African politician. He served as the 6th Premier of Gauteng following his election in 2014 until his resignation in October 2022. He was also a member of the Member of the Gauteng Provin ...

retained him in the Executive Council but moved him to the Economic Development portfolio. He remained in that portfolio throughout the legislative term. He was also elected to a four-year term on the Provincial Executive Committee of the Gauteng ANC from 2014 to 2018. Towards the end of the term, in June 2018, he stood unsuccessfully for election as Deputy Provincial Chairperson of the Gauteng ANC: he lost narrowly to fellow MEC

Panyaza Lesufi Andrek "Panyaza" Lesufi (born 4 September 1968) is a South African politician who was appointed the seventh Premier of Gauteng in October 2022. He was previously Member of the Executive Council (MEC) for Education in the Gauteng provincial govern ...

, earning 601 votes to Lesufi's 623. Maile was, however, re-elected to the ANC Provincial Executive Committee. In the

2019 Gauteng provincial election The 2019 Gauteng provincial election was held on 8 May 2019, concurrently with the 2019 South African general election, to elect the 73 members of the Gauteng Provincial Legislature. Incumbent Premier David Makhura led the ruling African National ...

, Maile was ranked fourth on the ANC's party list and was re-elected to the legislature. In Makhura's second-term Executive Council, he was appointed MEC for Human Settlements, Urban Planning and Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs, a new portfolio. As early as February 2021, Maile was touted as a possible contender to succeed Makhura as ANC Provincial Chairperson at the next party provincial conference in June 2022. Support for his campaign was strongest in the Tshwane region of Gauteng. As in 2018, Maile ran against Panyaza Lesufi. According to the '' Daily Maverick'', ahead of the conference, Paul Mashatile attempted unsuccessfully to broker a compromise between Maile and Lesufi, which would have seen Maile elected Deputy Chairperson under Lesufi. The contest went to a vote in which Lesufi again beat Maile narrowly, receiving 575 votes to Maile's 543. Maile was re-elected to a third term on the Provincial Executive Committee.

Lesufi premiership: 2022

In the aftermath of the ANC conference, Lesufi succeeded Makhura as Premier and on 7 October 2022 announced a reshuffle in which Maile was appointed MEC in the newly created Human Settlements and Infrastructure Development portfolio.

Personal life

Maile is Pedi and a polyglot. He is married.

References

External links

Lebogang Maile, Mr
at South African Government * {{DEFAULTSORT:Maile, Lebogang Living people 1979 births Politicians from Gauteng 20th-century South African politicians 21st-century South African politicians African National Congress politicians Members of the Gauteng Provincial Legislature Northern Sotho people