Nomvula Paula Mokonyane (born 28 June 1963) is a South African politician who is currently the First Deputy Secretary-General 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). She was the first female

Premier of Gauteng The Premier of Gauteng is the head of government of the Gauteng province of South Africa. The current Premier of Gauteng is Panyaza Lesufi, a member of the African National Congress, who was elected on 6 October 2022, following the resignation o ...

from 2009 to 2014 and subsequently served in the national government as Minister of Water and Sanitation from 2014 to 2018, Minister of Communications in 2018, and

Minister of Environmental Affairs The Minister of Environment, Forestry and Fisheries (formerly Minister of Environmental Affairs) is the member of the Cabinet of South Africa. The post was created by President Jacob Zuma, in his cabinet announced on 10 May 2009; it partially re ...

from 2018 to 2019. Born in

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 ...

, Mokonyane was a labour, community, and gender activist 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 ...

. She was first elected 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

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 ...

1994 File:1994 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 1994 Winter Olympics are held in Lillehammer, Norway; The Kaiser Permanente building after the 1994 Northridge earthquake; A model of the MS Estonia, which Sinking of the MS Estonia, sank in ...

and she served as a

Member of the Executive Council In South Africa, the Executive Council of a province is the cabinet of the provincial government. The Executive Council consists of the Premier and five to ten other members,''Constitution of the Republic of South Africa, 1996'', Chapter 6: "Pro ...

in Gauteng from 1996 to 2009. Following the 2009 general election, Mokonyane, then the Deputy Provincial Chairperson of the ANC in Gauteng, was elected to succeed

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 ...

as Premier. After a full five-year term as Premier, she was appointed to the cabinet of 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 ...

, where she served in the

Water and Sanitation Water (chemical formula ) is an Inorganic compound, inorganic, transparent, tasteless, odorless, and Color of water, nearly colorless chemical substance, which is the main constituent of Earth's hydrosphere and the fluids of all known living ...

portfolio throughout Zuma's second term. When

Cyril Ramaphosa Matamela Cyril Ramaphosa (born 17 November 1952) is a South African businessman and politician who is currently serving as the fifth democratically elected president of South Africa. Formerly an anti-apartheid activist, trade union leader, and ...

succeeded Zuma as President, he retained Mokonyane in his cabinet before demoting her after the 2019 general election. Mokonyane went on to lead the ANC's internal organising department at Luthuli House until her election to the Deputy Secretary-General post at the party's 55th National Conference in December 2022. Known in the media as "Mama Action", Mokonyane has been a member of the ANC

National Executive Committee National Executive Committee is the name of a leadership body in several organizations, mostly political parties: * National Executive Committee of the African National Congress, in South Africa * Australian Labor Party National Executive * Nationa ...

since

2007 File:2007 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Steve Jobs unveils Apple's first iPhone; TAM Airlines Flight 3054 overruns a runway and crashes into a gas station, killing almost 200 people; Former Pakistani Prime Minister of Pakistan, Pr ...

and formerly served on the national executive 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 ...

and on the

Central Committee Central committee is the common designation of a standing administrative body of Communist party, communist parties, analogous to a board of directors, of both ruling and nonruling parties of former and existing socialist states. In such party org ...

of the

South African Communist Party The South African Communist Party (SACP) is a communist party in South Africa. It was founded in 1921 as the Communist Party of South Africa (CPSA), tactically dissolved itself in 1950 in the face of being declared illegal by the governing Na ...

. In March 2022, the

Zondo Commission The Judicial Commission of Inquiry into Allegations of State Capture, Corruption and Fraud in the Public Sector including Organs of State, better known as the Zondo Commission or State Capture Commission, is a public inquiry established in Janu ...

recommended that Mokonyane should be prosecuted on charges of

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 ...

in connection with allegations that she accepted bribes from

Bosasa Bosasa was a South African company specialising in providing services to government, most notably prison services. It was controversial for its involvement in corruption allegations exposed during the Zondo Commission of Inquiry. It consisted ...

Early life and activism

Mokonyane was born on 28 June 1963 in

Kagiso Kagiso is a township situated in Krugersdorp west of Johannesburg in Gauteng Province, South Africa. The word ''kagiso'' means peace in Tswana. Kagiso's administration comprises five wards, each headed by a councillor. History Kagiso was establis ...

, a

township A township is a kind of human settlement or administrative subdivision, with its meaning varying in different countries. Although the term is occasionally associated with an urban area, that tends to be an exception to the rule. In Australia, Ca ...

Krugersdorp Krugersdorp (Afrikaans for ''Kruger's Town'') is a mining city in the West Rand, Gauteng Province, South Africa founded in 1887 by Marthinus Pretorius. Following the discovery of gold on the Witwatersrand, a need arose for a major town in the west ...

on the

West Rand The West Rand is the name of the urban western part of the Witwatersrand that is functionally merged with the Johannesburg conurbation. This area became settled by Europeans after a gold-bearing reef discovered in 1886 and sparked the gold ...

of the

Transvaal Transvaal is a historical geographic term associated with land north of (''i.e.'', beyond) the Vaal River in South Africa. A number of states and administrative divisions have carried the name Transvaal. * South African Republic (1856–1902; af, ...

(now part of

Gauteng province 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 1 ...

). She had six elder sisters and five elder brothers. She

matriculated Matriculation is the formal process of entering a university, or of becoming eligible to enter by fulfilling certain academic requirements such as a matriculation examination. Australia In Australia, the term "matriculation" is seldom used now. ...

at Masupatsela High School. In later years, she attended tertiary certificate courses in Sweden and the United States. According to Mokonyane, she became active in the

anti-apartheid struggle The Anti-Apartheid Movement (AAM), was a British organisation that was at the centre of the international movement opposing the South African apartheid system and supporting South Africa's non-White population who were persecuted by the policie ...

in the late 1970s at the age of fifteen, first as a member of the Young

Christian Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words ''Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρι ...

Students and then as a founding member 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 ...

in 1979. In the 1980s, she was a member of the United Democratic Front; an organiser for the

Federation of Transvaal Women The Federation of South African Women (FEDSAW) was a political lobby group formed in 1954. At FEDSAW's inaugural conference, a Women's Charter was adopted. Its founding was spear-headed by Lillian Ngoyi. Introduction The Federation of South Afric ...

(FEDTRAW); a

shop steward A union representative, union steward, or shop steward is an employee of an organization or company who represents and defends the interests of their fellow employees as a labor union member and official. Rank-and-file members of the union hold ...

in the Commercial, Catering and Allied Workers' Union of South Africa; and a leader in the

civic Civic is something related to a city or municipality. It also can refer to multiple other things: General *Civics, the science of comparative government *Civic engagement, the connection one feels with their larger community *Civic center, a comm ...

movement of her hometown through the Kagiso Residents' Organisation. Journalist

Ferial Haffajee Ferial Haffajee (born 20 February 1967) is a South African journalist and newspaper editor. Haffajee was editor of '' City Press'' newspaper from July 2009 until July 2016 and was previously the editor of the ''Mail & Guardian'' newspaper. Haf ...

later praised her "long history of community activism on the West Rand". Mokonyane was arrested for her activism during the 1985

state of emergency A state of emergency is a situation in which a government is empowered to be able to put through policies that it would normally not be permitted to do, for the safety and protection of its citizens. A government can declare such a state du ...

, shortly after her wedding and while in the

first trimester Pregnancy is the time during which one or more offspring develops ( gestates) inside a woman's uterus (womb). A multiple pregnancy involves more than one offspring, such as with twins. Pregnancy usually occurs by sexual intercourse, but ca ...

of a pregnancy. She gave birth while still detained under the

Internal Security Act Internal Security Act may refer to: * Internal Security Act 1960, former Malaysian law *Internal Security Act (Singapore) * McCarran Internal Security Act, a United States federal law *Suppression of Communism Act, 1950, a South African law, rename ...

. In 1997, Mokonyane testified about her experience in detention while representing FEDTRAW at a women's hearing of the

Truth and Reconciliation Commission A truth commission, also known as a truth and reconciliation commission or truth and justice commission, is an official body tasked with discovering and revealing past wrongdoing by a government (or, depending on the circumstances, non-state act ...

Provincial government

Member of the Executive Council: 1996–2009

In South Africa's first post-apartheid election in 1994, Mokonyane was elected as an ordinary

of the

. In 1996, she was appointed as a

(MEC) in the

provincial government A state government is the government that controls a subdivision of a country in a federal form of government, which shares political power with the federal or national government. A state government may have some level of political autonomy, ...

of Gauteng, with responsibility for agriculture, conservation and environment. In this capacity she championed a successful initiative to have Sterkfontein declared a

World Heritage Site A World Heritage Site is a landmark or area with legal protection by an international convention administered by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). World Heritage Sites are designated by UNESCO for h ...

. In subsequent reshuffles of the Executive Council, she was appointed MEC for Safety and Liaison from 1999 to 2004 and then MEC for Housing from 2004 to 2009; she succeeded

in both positions. Over the same period, Mokonyane held various positions in her political party, the

(ANC). By 1997, she was the Regional

Chairperson The chairperson, also chairman, chairwoman or chair, is the presiding officer of an organized group such as a board, committee, or deliberative assembly. The person holding the office, who is typically elected or appointed by members of the grou ...

of the local ANC branch in the West Rand, and by 2007 she was a member of the Provincial Executive Committee of the ANC in Gauteng. She served on the national executive of the

and in February 1995 was one of eleven senior members of the league, reportedly led by

Adelaide Tambo Adelaide Frances Tambo (née Tshukudu; 18 July 1929 – 31 January 2007) was a South African anti-apartheid activist, political exile, and regarded as a hero of the liberation struggle against apartheid. She was involved in South African poli ...

, who staged a walkout in protest of

Winnie Madikizela-Mandela Winnie Madikizela-Mandela (born Nomzamo Winifred Zanyiwe Madikizela; 26 September 1936 – 2 April 2018), also known as Winnie Mandela, was a South African anti-apartheid activist and politician, and the second wife of Nelson Mandela. She ser ...

's leadership. She was also an active member of the

(SACP), a close partner of the ANC; she was Provincial

Treasurer A treasurer is the person responsible for running the treasury of an organization. The significant core functions of a corporate treasurer include cash and liquidity management, risk management, and corporate finance. Government The treasury o ...

of the SACP in Gauteng by 1997 and ultimately served two terms on the SACP Central Committee from 1998 to 2007. In October 2007, while Housing MEC, Mokonyane launched an unsuccessful campaign to succeed

Mbhazima Shilowa Mbhazima Samuel (Sam) Shilowa, correct Tsonga spelling "Xilowa" (born 30 April 1958) is a South African politician. A former Premier of Gauteng province while a member of the African National Congress, Shilowa left the party to help form the o ...

Provincial Chairperson of the ANC The Provincial Executive Committees (PEC) of the African National Congress (ANC) are the chief executive organs of the party's nine provincial branches. Comprising the so-called Top Five provincial officials and up to 30 additional elected member ...

in Gauteng. At the party's provincial conference in October 2007, she was elected Deputy Provincial Chairperson instead, serving under Paul Mashatile. Later the same year, at the ANC's Polokwane conference in December 2007, she was elected for the first time to a seat on the party's

; by number of votes received, she was ranked 37th of the 80 candidates elected.

Premier of Gauteng: 2009–2014

Mokonyane was

from 6 May 2009 to 20 May 2014. The fifth incumbent and the first woman to hold the position, she was elected unopposed after the 2009 general election, during which she was re-elected to her seat in the provincial legislature. She was nominated to the premiership by outgoing Premier Paul Mashatile, who was also a Member of the Provincial Legislature, but her election was presumably the result of an instruction to the ANC caucus from the ANC National Executive Committee, which had announced that Mokonyane was its preferred candidate. Her ascension to the position was viewed as a "slap in the face" for Mashatile, who remained senior to her inside the ANC. In the months after her election, Mokonyane embarked on a controversial restructuring of the Gauteng provincial government. The '' Sowetan'' reported that the Gauteng ANC was divided by factionalism, with opposing groups aligned respectively to Mokonyane, Mashatile, and leadership contender

Angie Motshekga Matsie Angelina "Angie" Motshekga (born 19 June 1955) is a South African politician and educator, serving as the Minister of Basic Education since May 2009. She was also appointed as an acting president of the Republic of South Africa on 2 July ...

. In particular, the Gauteng branch of the

ANC Youth League The African National Congress Youth League (ANCYL) is the youth wing of the African National Congress (ANC). As set out in its constitution, the ANC Youth League is led by a National Executive Committee (NEC) and a National Working Committee (NW ...

protested Mokonyane's appointment, calling instead for Mashatile's re-election.

Bid for ANC Provincial Chair: 2010

Ahead of the provincial ANC's next leadership elections, Mokonyane was presumed to have the support of the National Executive Committee in her bid to succeed Mashatile as ANC Provincial Chairperson. However, when the elective conference was held in May 2010, Mashatile won decisively, winning re-election by 531 votes to Mokonyane's 356. Mokonyane was succeeded as Deputy Provincial Chairperson by Gwen Ramokgopa and declined to seek re-election to an ordinary seat on the ANC Provincial Executive Committee. In the aftermath of the vote, in what was viewed as an assertion of dominance over Mokonyane's office, the newly elected ANC provincial executive instructed Mokonyane to reshuffle her Executive Council to elevate several of Mashatile's allies. Nonetheless, Mokonyane was elected to another five-year term on the ANC National Executive Committee at the party's 53rd National Conference in December 2012; she was ranked 25th by popularity of the 80 elected candidates. According to the ''

Africa Report Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earth's total surface area ...

'', she played a key role at the conference when she, along with

Ace Magashule Elias Sekgobelo "Ace" Magashule (born 3 November 1959) is a South African politician and former anti-apartheid activist who was Secretary General of the African National Congress (ANC) until his suspension on 3 May 2021. He served as the Premier ...

and

David Mabuza David Dabede "DD" Mabuza (born 25 August 1960) is a South African politician who has been Deputy President of South Africa since February 2018. He was the Deputy President of the African National Congress (ANC) from December 2017 to December 2022 ...

, convinced

to stand as Zuma's

running mate A running mate is a person running together with another person on a joint Ticket (election), ticket during an election. The term is most often used in reference to the person in the subordinate position (such as the vice presidential candidate ...

, thus lending "credibility" to Zuma's bid for re-election as ANC President.

"Dirty votes" remark: 2013

In October 2013, Mokonyane was criticised for remarks she made on a visit to Bekkersdal, Gauteng, during violent service delivery protests in the town. According to News24, she said of the protesters, "People can threaten us and say they won’t vote but the ANC doesn’t need their dirty votes"; she subsequently tried to apologise but was loudly heckled. In subsequent days, Mokonyane announced that the government would establish a multi-level task team to investigate allegations of

and improve administration in Bekkersdal.

Succession: 2014

In 2013, Mokonyane indicated that she intended to run for re-election as Premier, but the ANC National Executive Committee reportedly snubbed her while considering candidates. In the 2014 general election, she was ranked eleventh on the ANC's

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 ...

in the provincial election; she was therefore re-elected to her seat in the provincial legislature, but was succeeded as Premier by

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 ...

, who at the time was Mashatile's Provincial Secretary in the Gauteng ANC.

National government

Minister of Water and Sanitation: 2014–2018

On 26 May 2014, pursuant to the general election, President

appointed Mokonyane to his second cabinet as Minister of Water and Sanitation, a newly created ministry in the national government. As a result of this appointment, Mokonyane was not sworn in to the Gauteng Provincial Legislature; she also had not been elected to a seat in the

national Parliament In modern politics, and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: representing the electorate, making laws, and overseeing the government via hearings and inquiries. Th ...

, but became one of the two ministers that Zuma was

constitutionally A constitution is the aggregate of fundamental principles or established precedents that constitute the legal basis of a polity, organisation or other type of entity and commonly determine how that entity is to be governed. When these princip ...

permitted to appoint from outside the legislature. She held the portfolio until 26 February 2018. '' City Press'' later described Mokonyane's tenure in the ministry as defined by "tremendous decline in investment in

capital Capital may refer to: Common uses * Capital city, a municipality of primary status ** List of national capital cities * Capital letter, an upper-case letter Economics and social sciences * Capital (economics), the durable produced goods used f ...

projects, the systematic destabilisation of

water boards A water board is a regional or national organisation that has very different functions from one country to another. The functions range from flood control and water resources management at the regional or local level (the Netherlands, Germany), w ...

and the departure of key and senior personnel". Controversial decisions taken by Mokonyane included the R4-billion decision to delay Phase II of the

Lesotho Highlands Water Project The Lesotho Highlands Water Project (LHWP) is an ongoing water supply project with a hydropower component, developed in partnership between the governments of Lesotho and South Africa. It comprises a system of several large dams and tunnels thr ...

, which Mokonyane said was related to the need to ensure that the project served the imperative of economic transformation but which senior officials said was part of an attempt to ensure that related state contracts went to LTE Consulting, an ANC donor. Other LTE Consulting contracts with the

Department of Water and Sanitation The Department of Water and Sanitation is one of the departments of the South African government. It is responsible for the state of water and sanitation in South Africa. In May 2009, following the election of Jacob Zuma, the Department of Wa ...

were subject to an investigation by the

Special Investigating Unit The Special Investigating Unit (SIU) is an independent agency of the South African government which investigates corruption and maladministration in state institutions. It was first established in July 1997 by President Nelson Mandela, although i ...

in 2016. Also in 2016, the

National Treasury A treasury is either *A government department related to finance and taxation, a finance ministry. *A place or location where treasure, such as currency or precious items are kept. These can be state or royal property, church treasure or in ...

expressed misgivings about Mokonyane's decision to merge two

KwaZulu-Natal KwaZulu-Natal (, also referred to as KZN and known as "the garden province") is a province of South Africa that was created in 1994 when the Zulu bantustan of KwaZulu ("Place of the Zulu" in Zulu) and Natal Province were merged. It is locate ...

water boards, the

Umgeni The Umgeni River or Mgeni River ( zu, uMngeni) is a river in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. It rises in the "Dargle" in the KZN Midlands, and its mouth is at Durban, some distance north of Durban's natural harbour. The name is taken to mean "the ...

and Mhlathuze boards, into a single board to be overseen by

Dudu Myeni Duduzile "Dudu" Cynthia Myeni (born 29 October 1963) is a South African businesswoman, a former chairperson of South African Airways SOC Limited, and former executive chairperson of the Jacob Zuma Foundation since September 2008. She is known f ...

. In February 2017, ''City Press'' reported that the Department of Water and Sanitation was effectively

bankrupt Bankruptcy is a legal process through which people or other entities who cannot repay debts to creditors may seek relief from some or all of their debts. In most jurisdictions, bankruptcy is imposed by a court order, often initiated by the debt ...

and that officials from the department and the National Treasury were lobbying for cabinet to place the department under administration. On the day that Mokonyane vacated the portfolio in February 2018, the Standing Committee on Public Accounts (Scopa) and the Portfolio Committee on Water and Sanitation announced a full parliamentary inquiry into alleged

maladministration Maladministration is the actions of a government body which can be seen as causing an injustice. The law in the United Kingdom says Ombudsmen must investigate maladministration. The definition of maladministration is wide and can include: *Delay ...

and corruption at the Department of Water and Sanitation, which Scopa chairperson

Themba Godi Nelson Themba Godi (born 10 August 1966 in Matsavana) is a South African politician and a former member of the National Assembly. As deputy parliamentary leader of the Pan-Africanist Congress of Azania, he was suspended by PAC's president, Motso ...

said had "ceased to function like a normal department" and had "effectively been destroyed". Despite the various controversies surrounding her activities in government, Mokonyane remained an influential figure in the ANC and was re-elected to a third five-year term on the ANC National Executive Committee at the party's 54th National Conference in December 2017; she was ranked 32nd of the 80 elected candidates. Ahead of the conference, she did not support Deputy President Cyril Ramaphosa's bid to succeed Zuma as ANC President; instead she supported the ill-fated campaign of

Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma Nkosazana Clarice Dlamini-Zuma (née Dlamini; born 27 January 1949), sometimes referred to by her initials NDZ, is a South African politician, medical doctor and former anti-apartheid activist. A longstanding member of the African National Cong ...

. Indeed, for a period she was touted as a possible candidate to stand for ANC Treasurer-General on Dlamini-Zuma's

slate Slate is a fine-grained, foliated, homogeneous metamorphic rock derived from an original shale-type sedimentary rock composed of clay or volcanic ash through low-grade regional metamorphism. It is the finest grained foliated metamorphic rock. ...

Minister of Communications: 2018

On 27 February 2018, Mokonyane was appointed Minister of Communications in a reshuffle of the cabinet by newly

elected Elected may refer to: * "Elected" (song), by Alice Cooper, 1973 * ''Elected'' (EP), by Ayreon, 2008 *The Elected, an American indie rock band See also *Election An election is a formal group decision-making process by which a population ...

President

, who took office after Zuma resigned. While she was in this portfolio, in August 2018, Mokonyane was sworn in as a Member of 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 ...

, the lower house of the South African Parliament; she filled a

casual vacancy In politics, a casual vacancy (''casual'' in the sense of "by chance") is a situation in which a seat in a deliberative assembly becomes vacant during that assembly's term. Casual vacancies may arise through the death, resignation or disqualifi ...

in the house.

Minister of Environmental Affairs: 2018–2019

On 22 November 2018, in a minor reshuffle by Ramaphosa, Mokonyane was shifted to the Ministry of Environmental Affairs. Opposition parties, and the ANC's own ally the

Congress of South African Trade Unions The Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU) is a trade union 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 ...

, responded by calling for Ramaphosa to drop Mokonyane from the cabinet entirely. Mokonyane nevertheless remained in the cabinet until 25 May 2019, when Ramaphosa announced his new cabinet after his re-election in the 2019 general election. Mokonyane was listed tenth on the ANC's party list during the national election, securing Mokonyane her first full term in a seat in the National Assembly, and the ANC announced that Ramaphosa did not intend to reappoint her to cabinet but would instead nominate her to serve as a presiding officer in the assembly, as House Chairperson for Committees ("chair of chairs"). However, when Parliament opened, the ANC said that Mokonyane had withdrawn from the party list and would not be sworn into Parliament due to family responsibilities.

Luthuli House

ANC Head of Organising: 2019–2022

In May 2019, after Mokonyane declined to be sworn into Parliament, the ANC said that it would assign her to the party's headquarters at Luthuli House 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 ...

. She was appointed to a full-time role as the ANC's Head of Organising, in which capacity she helped introduce a new digital system for recording party membership. Simultaneously, she completed her term on the ANC National Executive Committee, although in 2022 she was removed from her powerful position as chairperson of the party's internal National Disciplinary Committee of Appeal; she was replaced in that capacity by Johnny de Lange.

ANC Deputy Secretary-General: 2022

Mokonyane remained head of organising until the party's 55th National Conference in December 2022, when she was elected First Deputy

Secretary-General Secretary is a title often used in organizations to indicate a person having a certain amount of authority, power, or importance in the organization. Secretaries announce important events and communicate to the organization. The term is derived ...

of the national ANC. She emerged as a frontrunner for the position during the nominations stage, when she was the favourite candidate of local party branches in her home province, Gauteng, and four other provinces (KwaZulu-Natal, Free State,

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 ...

, and

North West The points of the compass are a set of horizontal, radially arrayed compass directions (or azimuths) used in navigation and cartography. A compass rose is primarily composed of four cardinal directions—north, east, south, and west—each sepa ...

). Her candidacy was endorsed by the provincial leadership in Gauteng and KwaZulu-Natal, as well as by leaders of the ANC Youth League and ANC Women's League. At the conference, she won narrowly against

Tina Joemat-Pettersson Tina Monica Joemat-Pettersson (née Joemat; 18 December 1963 in Kimberley, Northern Cape) is a South African politician and the former Minister of Energy from 25 May 2014 to 31 March 2017. She was previously the Minister of agriculture, fores ...

, the candidate favoured by Ramaphosa's allies; she earned 2,195 votes against Joemat-Pettersson's 2,145. As First Deputy Secretary-General, she serves alongside the Second Deputy Secretary-General, Maropene Ramokgopa, and under Secretary-General

Fikile Mbalula Fikile April Mbalula (born 1 April 1971 in the Free State) is a South African politician who is currently serving in the cabinet as Minister of Transport. He previously served as both Minister and Deputy Minister of Police and Minister of Sport ...

; both Ramokgopa and Mbalula ran on the slate aligned to Ramaphosa and Joemat-Pettersson.

Zondo Commission

Testimony

In 2019, Mokonyane was implicated in possible corruption by

Angelo Agrizzi Angelo Agrizzi was the chief operating officer of Bosasa, a South African logistics company, until 2016. He is best known for his testimony to the Zondo Commission, during which he blew the whistle on the corrupt relationship between Bosasa and me ...

, the former

chief operating officer A chief operating officer or chief operations officer, also called a COO, is one of the highest-ranking executive positions in an organization, composing part of the "C-suite". The COO is usually the second-in-command at the firm, especially if t ...

. While testifying before the

, which was established to investigate allegations of state capture during Jacob Zuma's presidency, Agrizzi said that Bosasa had paid Mokonyane a monthly cash retainer as part of an attempt to curry favour with ANC politicians who could influence the allocation of state contracts. Other witnesses claimed that Bosasa had paid for a birthday party for Mokonyane, for her family's groceries, for security upgrades at her home, and possibly for her

Aston Martin Aston Martin Lagonda Global Holdings PLC is an English manufacturer of luxury sports cars and grand tourers. Its predecessor was founded in 1913 by Lionel Martin and Robert Bamford. Steered from 1947 by David Brown, it became associated with ...

. When Mokonyane testified before the commission in July 2020, she admitted that she had been friendly with Bosasa chief executive

Gavin Watson Gavin Joseph Watson (12 July 1948 – 26 August 2019) was a South African businessman who served as Chief Executive Officer of African Global Operations, previously known as Bosasa, from 2000 until his death in 2019. His company was implicated ...

, but denied having received any bribes or personal gifts from Bosasa. The commission called her again in September 2020, after the owner of a guest house in Krugersdorp claimed that Mokonyane's 40th birthday party (in 2003) had been held at his property and had been financed by a R41,000 contribution from Bosasa. During the September hearings, Mokonyane said she had forgotten about the party in question and did not know who had paid for it.

Findings

In its report on Bosasa released on 1 March 2022, the Zondo Commission recommended that the

National Prosecuting Authority The National Prosecution Authority (NPA) is the agency of the South African government responsible for state prosecutions. Under Section 179 of the Constitution and the National Prosecuting Authority Act of 1998, which established the NPA in 199 ...

should prosecute Mokonyane on charges of corruption. The report found that there were "clearly extensive attempts by Bosasa and its leaders, through various forms of inducement and gain, to influence Ms Mokonyane in her position as a member of the national executive, the provincial executive and office bearer in organs of state". According to the commission, there was sufficient ''prima facie'' evidence to establish that Mokonyane had accepted gratifications from Bosasa – particularly in respect of the cash payments, birthday party, and house upgrades – and moreover to establish that Mokonyane had been dishonest in denying knowledge of the inducements while testifying before the commission. Mokonyane continued to deny the allegations, labelling them "total rubbish"; she said that the report "hurt, looking at what I sold for the freedom of this country, and what I'm still doing for the freedom of this country, in defence of the hard-won independence of this country". She accused the commission and its chairperson, Chief Justice

Raymond Zondo Raymond Mnyamezeli Mlungisi "Ray" Zondo (born 4 May 1960) is a South African judge who is currently serving as Chief Justice of South Africa since 2022. President Cyril Ramaphosa appointed Zondo as South Africa's new chief justice with effect f ...

, of meddling in politics, and announced that she intended to seek

judicial review Judicial review is a process under which executive, legislative and administrative actions are subject to review by the judiciary. A court with authority for judicial review may invalidate laws, acts and governmental actions that are incompat ...

of the report.

Personal life

Mokonyane is

Catholic The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

. She was married to Serge Mokonyane, whom she met in 1984 at a

June 16 Events Pre-1600 * 363 – Emperor Julian marches back up the Tigris and burns his fleet of supply ships. During the withdrawal, Roman forces suffer several attacks from the Persians. * 632 – Yazdegerd III ascends the throne as king ...

rally. At the time he was a United Democratic Front activist and

trade union 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 benefits ( ...

organiser in Munsieville, Krugersdorp – indeed, he was arrested with Mokonyane shortly after their wedding in 1985. After the end of apartheid, he was a businessman until his death in April 2019. They had three children and several grandchildren together; their son, Retlabusa, died in November 2010 at the age of 23.

References

External link

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Mokonyane, Nomvula 1963 births Living people Premiers of Gauteng African National Congress politicians South African Communist Party politicians Government ministers of South Africa Women government ministers of South Africa Women premiers of South African provinces Communications ministers of South Africa People from Mogale City Local Municipality