Lewele John Modisenyane is a South African politician who represented the African National Congress (ANC) in the National Assembly from 1994 to 2009, serving the Free State constituency. He lost his seat in the 2009 general election, in which he defected from the ANC to the opposition Congress of the People (COPE). In 2006, he was convicted of stealing from Parliament during the Travelgate scandal.

Early life and activism

Modisenyane is from the eastern Free State. During apartheid, he was an activist for the United Democratic Front, and after the ANC was unbanned in 1990 he worked as an organiser for the party in the province.

Legislative career: 1994–2009

In the 1994 general election, South Africa's first under universal suffrage, Modisenyane was elected to an ANC seat in the new National Assembly. He served three terms in his seat, gaining re-election in

1999 File:1999 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The funeral procession of King Hussein of Jordan in Amman; the 1999 İzmit earthquake kills over 17,000 people in Turkey; the Columbine High School massacre, one of the first major school shootin ...

and

2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 6 ...

, and represented the Free State constituency. After his re-election in 2004, he served briefly as Chairperson of the

Portfolio Committee on Correctional Services The Portfolio Committee on Justice and Correctional Services is a portfolio committee of the National Assembly of South Africa. It is responsible for oversight of the Department of Justice and Constitutional Development and the Department of Co ...

: the ANC nominated him to the position in early May but replaced him with

Dennis Bloem Dennis Victor Bloem (born 4 August 1952) is a South African politician who served as the national spokesperson of the Congress of the People (COPE) until his resignation in August 2023. He represented COPE in the National Council of Provinces ...

in a reshuffle in late June. In January 2006, the Scorpions announced that they intended to pursue criminal charges against Modisenyane as part of the Travelgate scandal; he was one of several politicians accused of defrauding Parliament using false travel benefits claims. In October 2006, he accepted a plea deal and pled guilty in the

Cape High Court The Western Cape Division of the High Court of South Africa (previously named the Cape Provincial Division and the Western Cape High Court, and commonly known as the Cape High Court) is a superior court of law with general jurisdiction over th ...

to one count of theft in relation to the receipt of R45,000 in service benefits. He paid a fine of R25,000, in lieu of serving three years' imprisoned, and was also sentenced to a mandatory five years' imprisonment, suspended conditionally for five years. He and other convicted politicians received a formal reprimand during a parliamentary sitting in March 2007. Ahead of the 2009 general election, Modisenyane announced that he would leave the ANC to join COPE, a newly formed breakaway party. He was listed 37th on COPE's national party list in the election but did not secure a seat. In February 2010, the ''

Sowetan ''The Sowetan'' is an English-language South African daily newspaper that started in 1981 as a liberation struggle newspaper and was freely distributed to households in the then apartheid-segregated township of Soweto, Johannesburg, Gauteng Pr ...

'' reported that he was likely to be appointed to manage COPE's parliamentary office.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Modisenyane, Lewele Living people Year of birth missing (living people) Politicians from the Free State (province) 20th-century South African politicians 21st-century South African politicians African National Congress politicians Congress of the People (South African political party) politicians Members of the National Assembly of South Africa