Maaria Ishmael Kgetjepe 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

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 ...

between 2013 and 2019, most prominently as Member of the Executive Council (MEC) for Health from 2015 to 2019. He was also MEC for Education from 2014 to 2015 and MEC for Human Settlements from 2013 to 2014.

Life and career

Kgetjepe attended Makgoka High School in

Mankweng Mankweng, also called Turfloop is a township in Capricorn District Municipality in the Limpopo province of South Africa, and home to the University of Limpopo. Mankweng also known as Turfloop (which is also the de facto name for the neighbourhood ...

Limpopo province Limpopo is the northernmost Provinces of South Africa, 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 th ...

. He was active in the

Sekhukhune Sekhukhune I (Matsebe; circa 1814 – 13 August 1882) was the paramount King of the Marota, more commonly known as the Bapedi, from 21 September 1861 until his assassination on 13 August 1882 by his rival and half-brother, Mampuru II. As the Pedi ...

regional branch of the ANC and formerly served as a spokesperson for the ANC's provincial branch in Limpopo. He was appointed to the Executive Council for the first time in July 2013, when Stan Mathabatha took office as

Premier of Limpopo The Premier of Limpopo is the head of government of Limpopo province of South Africa. The current Premier of Limpopo is Stanley Mathabatha, a member of the African National Congress, who was appointed in July 2013. He took office on 18 July 201 ...

and announced a wide-ranging reshuffle in which Kgetjepe was named MEC for Human Settlements. In the 2014 general election, Kgetjepe was re-elected to 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 ...

, ranked seventh 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 ...

, and Mathabatha reappointed him to the Executive Council as MEC for Health. On 27 May 2015, Mathabatha announced that Kgetjepe would be moved to the Education portfolio, where he filled a vacancy that had arisen after the death of Thembisile Nwedamutswu in January that year. He was MEC for Education until May 2019 and towards the end of his term was at the centre of a

corruption Corruption is a form of dishonesty or a criminal offense which is undertaken by a person or an organization which is entrusted in a position of authority, in order to acquire illicit benefits or abuse power for one's personal gain. Corruption m ...

scandal when '' City Press'' reported that he had received R1.05 million from a non-governmental organisation, Mvula Trust, which had received a tender from the national Department of Basic Education. According to an audit report leaked to the newspaper, he had received the money in eight tranches between September 2017 and June 2018. The Mvula Trust admitted that it had made payments to Kgetjepe at his request to fund his political activities in the ANC, but denied that the payments constituted a bribe or

conflict of interest A conflict of interest (COI) is a situation in which a person or organization is involved in multiple interests, financial or otherwise, and serving one interest could involve working against another. Typically, this relates to situations i ...

, pointing out that Kgetjepe had no influence over the adjudication of the bid, especially because he had taken office as an MEC after the tender was granted. Opposition parties nonetheless responded with hostility, with the Democratic Alliance calling for Mathabatha to fire Kgetjepe and the

Economic Freedom Fighters The Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) is a South African left-wing to far-left pan-Africanist and Marxist–Leninist political party. It was founded by expelled former African National Congress Youth League (ANCYL) President Julius Malema, and hi ...

laying criminal charges against him with the police. After the 2019 general election, Kgetjepe did not return to the Executive Council or the provincial legislature.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Kgetjepe, Ishmael Living people Year of birth missing (living people) Members of the Limpopo Provincial Legislature African National Congress politicians