Lubabalo Oscar Mabuyane (born 24 February 1974) is a South African politician who has been serving as the seventh
Premier of the Eastern Cape
The Premier of the Eastern Cape is the head of government of the Eastern Cape province of South Africa. The current Premier of the Eastern Cape is Oscar Mabuyane, a member of the African National Congress, who was elected in the 2019 election. ...
since May 2019. He was previously
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 ...
(MEC) for Economic Development, Environmental Affairs and Tourism in the
Eastern Cape provincial government from May 2018 to May 2019.
Formerly a businessman and aide to politician
Enoch Godongwana
Enoch Godongwana (born 9 June 1957) is a South African politician who has been serving as the Minister of Finance of South Africa in the government of President Cyril Ramaphosa since August 2021. He is also the former head of the African Nationa ...
, Mabuyane rose to political prominence through 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) and
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 ...
in the Eastern Cape. He was elected
ANC Provincial Secretary in 2009 and
ANC Provincial Chairperson in 2017 before his ascension to the
Eastern Cape Provincial Legislature
The Eastern Cape Provincial Legislature is the primary legislative body of the South African province of Eastern Cape. It is unicameral in its composition, and elects the premier and the provincial cabinet from among the members of the leading pa ...
in February 2018. In May 2022, he was elected to a second term as Provincial Chairperson in the Eastern Cape ANC.
Early life and education
Lubabalo Oscar Mabuyane was born on 24 February 1974 in
Ngcobo
Ngcobo (formerly Engcobo) is a town in the Eastern Cape province of South Africa.
Ngcobo is the main town of the Engcobo Local Municipality, which falls within the Chris Hani District Municipality of the Eastern Cape. It is situated in the weste ...
in the former
Cape Province
The Province of the Cape of Good Hope ( af, Provinsie Kaap die Goeie Hoop), commonly referred to as the Cape Province ( af, Kaapprovinsie) and colloquially as The Cape ( af, Die Kaap), was a province in the Union of South Africa and subsequen ...
.
His family is from the
Xhosa
Xhosa may refer to:
* Xhosa people, a nation, and ethnic group, who live in south-central and southeasterly region of South Africa
* Xhosa language, one of the 11 official languages of South Africa, principally spoken by the Xhosa people
See als ...
-speaking
Thembu
The Thembu Kingdom (''abaThembu ababhuzu-bhuzu, abanisi bemvula ilanga libalele'') was a Xhosa-state in the Eastern Cape province of South Africa.
According to Xhosa oral tradition, the AbaThembu migrated along the east coast of Southern Africa ...
tribe.
He attended Zilimbola Junior Secondary School in the Cape, but as a teenager he left his family home to live with his father in
Carletonville
Carletonville is a town in Gauteng and the seat of the Merafong City Local Municipality in the West Rand District Municipality in Gauteng, South Africa, just north of the richest gold-mining area in the world. At 3,749 m, Western Deep Levels hold ...
in 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, ...
so that he could earn money in nearby
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 ...
.
He
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. ...
in 1995 at Lekoa Shandu High School in
Sharpeville, Transvaal.
In 1997, he enrolled at the
University of Fort Hare
The University of Fort Hare is a public university in Alice, Eastern Cape, South Africa.
It was a key institution of higher education for Africans from 1916 to 1959 when it offered a Western-style academic education to students from across sub ...
in the newly constituted
Eastern Cape Province
The Eastern Cape is one of the provinces of South Africa. Its capital is Bhisho, but its two largest cities are East London and Gqeberha.
The second largest province in the country (at 168,966 km2) after Northern Cape, it was formed in 1994 ...
; he received a
Bachelor's degree
A bachelor's degree (from Middle Latin ''baccalaureus'') or baccalaureate (from Modern Latin ''baccalaureatus'') is an undergraduate academic degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to six ...
in
economics
Economics () is the social science that studies the Production (economics), production, distribution (economics), distribution, and Consumption (economics), consumption of goods and services.
Economics focuses on the behaviour and intera ...
.
While at Fort Hare, Mabuyane was involved in student politics: he was chairperson of a local branch of the
South African Students Congress
The South African Students Congress (SASCO) is a South African student organisation currently led by Bamanye Matiwane as the organization's President. SASCO was founded in September 1991 at Rhodes University in Grahamstown, Eastern Cape, through ...
in 1999 and was elected president of the Fort Hare
student representative council in 2000.
He was also 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)
Youth League.
Mabuyane later studied for a
Master's degree
A master's degree (from Latin ) is an academic degree awarded by universities or colleges upon completion of a course of study demonstrating mastery or a high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional practice. in
public administration
Public Administration (a form of governance) or Public Policy and Administration (an academic discipline) is the implementation of public policy, administration of government establishment (public governance), management of non-profit establ ...
, also from the University of Fort Hare, but he was deregistered as a student in 2021; the university claimed that admission procedures had not been followed correctly upon his enrolment.
Political career
Between 2002 and 2005, Mabuyane worked in
Bhisho, Eastern Cape as
chief of staff
The title chief of staff (or head of staff) identifies the leader of a complex organization such as the armed forces, institution, or body of persons and it also may identify a principal staff officer (PSO), who is the coordinator of the supporti ...
in the office of ANC politician
Enoch Godongwana
Enoch Godongwana (born 9 June 1957) is a South African politician who has been serving as the Minister of Finance of South Africa in the government of President Cyril Ramaphosa since August 2021. He is also the former head of the African Nationa ...
, who was then the
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 ...
(MEC) for Tourism, Economic Affairs and Finance in the Eastern Cape provincial government.
From 2005 to 2009, he was
managing director
A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a central executive officer (CEO), chief administrator officer (CAO) or just chief executive (CE), is one of a number of corporate executives charged with the management of an organization especially ...
of Ikamva Consulting, a
consultancy
A consultant (from la, consultare "to deliberate") is a professional (also known as ''expert'', ''specialist'', see variations of meaning below) who provides advice and other purposeful activities in an area of specialization.
Consulting servic ...
firm.
Rise in the ANC
Over the same period, Mabuyane remained active in the ANC. In 2008, he was elected deputy provincial secretary of the ANC Youth League's Eastern Cape branch, a position he held until 2011.
In September 2009, he was additionally elected
provincial secretary of the mainstream ANC, a full-time position in a leadership corps headed by
Phumulo Masualle
Phumulo Masualle is a South African politician. He was the Premier of the Eastern Cape province in South Africa, following his appointment in 2014. Masualle, member of the African National Congress (ANC) and SA Communist Party (SACP) stalwart, wa ...
; he beat Xola Phakathi, a leader in the Eastern Cape branch of 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 ...
, to gain election. He was re-elected ANC provincial secretary in July 2013.
Festival of chairs
Ahead of the provincial party's next elective conference in 2017, Mabuyane launched a campaign to oust Masualle, who intended to run for a third term as ANC
provincial chairperson. One of the several issues of contention between their camps was leadership succession in the national ANC ahead of the ANC's
54th National Conference: Mabuyane had publicly supported deputy president
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 ...
's bid to succeed incumbent ANC 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 ...
, while Masualle was more ambivalent. When the provincial conference opened in October 2017, a plenary session devolved into violence in which several people were injured by flying chairs; the conference subsequently became popularly known as the "festival of chairs", a phrase that was first coined by Ramaphosa and was a reference to the ANC's promise to offer a "festival of ideas".
After the brawl, only 55% of the delegates remained in the hall, most of them supporters of Mabuyane, and Masualle was not available to formally accept or decline his nomination in the election. Mabuyane thus won in a landslide, receiving 931 votes against Masualle's seven, and he was appointed ANC provincial chairperson for the Eastern Cape.
The
provincial executive committee elected at the conference was dominated by Mabuyane's supporters.
In subsequent months, Masualle's supporters disputed the election result and 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 ...
(NEC) appointed one of its members,
S'bu Ndebele
Sibusiso Joel "S'bu" Ndebele (born 17 October 1948) is the former Minister of Correctional Services serving from 2012 to 2014. He has been on the National Executive Committee (NEC) of the African National Congress (ANC) since 1997, and was the Pr ...
, to investigate. Ndebele recommended that the Mabuyane-led provincial executive committee should be dissolved and replaced in fresh elections, but the NEC rejected his recommendation, opting instead for a "political solution" that would build "unity" in the provincial party.
In June 2018, the
Johannesburg High Court
The Gauteng Division of the High Court of South Africa is a superior court of law which has general jurisdiction over the South African province of Gauteng and the eastern part of North West province. The main seat of the division is at Pretoria, ...
dismissed an attempt by Masualle's supporters to have the NEC ordered to dissolve the provincial executive.
Re-election
As provincial chairperson, Mabuyane became an
ex officio
An ''ex officio'' member is a member of a body (notably a board, committee, council) who is part of it by virtue of holding another office. The term '' ex officio'' is Latin, meaning literally 'from the office', and the sense intended is 'by right ...
member of the NEC. He remained a strong supporter of Ramaphosa, who had succeeded in his 2017 bid for election as ANC president. On 9 May 2022, during another volatile conference, Mabuyane was re-elected to a second term as provincial chairperson, defeating a challenge from
Babalo Madikizela
Babalo Madikizela is a South African urban planner and politician who served as the Eastern Cape MEC for Public Works from May 2019 to July 2022 and as a Member of the Eastern Cape Provincial Legislature from November 2018 to August 2022. Madiki ...
, the incumbent provincial treasurer, with 812 votes to Madikizela's 662.
The other top positions in the provincial executive committee went to people who had run on Mabuyane'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. ...
, with all the incumbent officials except Madikizela re-elected to their posts.
Deputy presidency bid
Later that year, Mabuyane emerged as a candidate for election to a top national leadership position at the ANC's
55th National Conference in December. In September, his provincial executive committee endorsed him for the ANC deputy presidency. He was nominated for the deputy president position by 397 local ANC branches, 390 of them in the Eastern Cape, and ran against
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 ...
and
Ronald Lamola
Ronald Ozzy Lamola (born 21 November 1983) is a South African lawyer and politician, Minister of Justice and Correctional Services, and a member of the African National Congress (ANC). He has also been serving as a Member of the National Assembl ...
.
Provincial government
On 19 February 2018, less than six months after his election as ANC provincial chairperson, Mabuyane was 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
Eastern Cape Provincial Legislature
The Eastern Cape Provincial Legislature is the primary legislative body of the South African province of Eastern Cape. It is unicameral in its composition, and elects the premier and the provincial cabinet from among the members of the leading pa ...
, leading to speculation that a reshuffle in the provincial executive was imminent.
In May, Masualle, as
Premier of the Eastern Cape
The Premier of the Eastern Cape is the head of government of the Eastern Cape province of South Africa. The current Premier of the Eastern Cape is Oscar Mabuyane, a member of the African National Congress, who was elected in the 2019 election. ...
, appointed Mabuyane MEC for Economic Development, Environmental Affairs and Tourism, in which portfolio he succeeded
Sakhumzi Somyo. Masualle said that he was appointing Mabuyane and other newly elected provincial leaders to his Executive Council in order to prepare for "a smooth transition" into a new administration after the
2019 general election.
In the May
2019 election in the Eastern Cape, the ANC retained its large majority in the province and the ANC NEC announced that Mabuyane was the party's candidate to succeed Masualle as premier.
Mabuyane was elected Premier by the provincial legislature and assumed office on 22 May 2019.
Controversy
In October 2021, Mabuyane was implicated in an investigation by 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 ...
,
Busisiwe Mkhwebane
Busisiwe Mkhwebane is a South African advocate, prosecutor and ombudsman, who has served as the 4th Public Protector of South Africa from 2016 to 2022.
Early life and education
Mkhwebane was born in Bethal in the then Transvaal province (now ...
, into the alleged misuse of public funds by the Eastern Cape provincial government and the local municipality of
Mbizana, Eastern Cape.
In 2018, the government had set aside
R3.3 million to host events commemorating
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 ...
, a recently deceased ANC stalwart from Mbizana. The Public Protector's investigation found that a portion of the money, R450,000, had been used to renovate the private residence of Mabuyane, who at the time was an MEC.
The Public Protector referred her findings to the
Hawks
Hawks are birds of prey of the family Accipitridae. They are widely distributed and are found on all continents except Antarctica.
* The subfamily Accipitrinae includes goshawks, sparrowhawks, sharp-shinned hawks and others. This subfamily a ...
for criminal investigation, suggesting that Mabuyane and other officials had "improperly benefitted from the misuse of public funds" and may have contravened the
Prevention of Organised Crime Act or Prevention and Combating of Corrupt Activities Act.
Mabuyane denied the allegation of misconduct and suggested that the criminal investigation was
unconstitutional
Constitutionality is said to be the condition of acting in accordance with an applicable constitution; "Webster On Line" the status of a law, a procedure, or an act's accordance with the laws or set forth in the applicable constitution. When l ...
and had been influenced by suspended ANC secretary general
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 ...
, a prominent opponent of Ramaphosa. As of March 2022, the investigation was ongoing.
Personal life
Mabuyane is married to Siyasanga. They have three children.
On 12 November 2020, his office announced that he had tested positive for
COVID-19
Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was COVID-19 pandemic in Hubei, identified in Wuhan, China, in December ...
.
References
External links
Oscar Mabuyaneon People's Assembly
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mabuyane, Oscar
African National Congress politicians
Living people
1974 births
Xhosa people
University of Fort Hare alumni
Members of the Eastern Cape Provincial Legislature
Premiers of the Eastern Cape
People from the Eastern Cape
People from Engcobo Local Municipality
People from Chris Hani District Municipality
20th-century South African politicians
21st-century South African politicians