Mpho Franklyn Parks Tau (born 1970) is a South African politician who has been a Deputy Minister of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs since March 2023 and a
Member of the National Assembly of South Africa
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 ...
since February 2023, representing the
African National Congress
The African National Congress (ANC) is a social-democratic political party in South Africa. A liberation movement known for its opposition to apartheid, it has governed the country since 1994, when the first post-apartheid election install ...
. Before becoming a member of Parliament, Tau had been a
Member of the Gauteng Provincial Legislature where he served in the
Gauteng Executive Council as MEC for Economic Development from December 2020 to October 2022. Prior to that, he was Deputy Minister of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs between May 2019 and December 2020.
Tau was the second democratically elected mayor, after
Amos Masondo, of the Unified
City of Johannesburg
The City of Johannesburg Metropolitan Municipality is a metropolitan municipality that manages the local governance of Johannesburg, South Africa. It is divided into several branches and departments in order to expedite services for the city. Z ...
. He lost the mayoralty to the DA's
Herman Mashaba
Herman Samtseu Philip Mashaba (born August 26, 1959) is a South African politician, entrepreneur and the current president of ActionSA, a party he launched on 29 August 2020. He served as the Mayor of Johannesburg from 2016 to 2019. He is the fo ...
in a historic defeat on the 22 of August 2016. From 2018 to 2022, he was the
provincial treasurer of the Gauteng ANC branch. In December 2022, he was elected to a five-year term on the
National Executive Committee of the African National Congress
The National Executive Committee (NEC) of the African National Congress (ANC) is the party's chief executive organ. It is elected every five years at the party national conference; the executive committee, in turn, elects a National Working Comm ...
.
Early life and education
Tau was born in
Orlando West
Orlando is a township in the urban area of Soweto, South Africa. The township was founded in 1931 and named after Edwin Orlando Leake, Mayor of Johannesburg from 1925 to 1926. It is divided in two main areas: Orlando West and Orlando East.
Histor ...
, a neighbourhood of
Soweto
Soweto () is a township of the City of Johannesburg Metropolitan Municipality in Gauteng, South Africa, bordering the city's mining belt in the south. Its name is an English syllabic abbreviation for ''South Western Townships''. Formerly a s ...
, on 6 June 1970. At the age of fourteen, he joined the Congress of South African Students (COSAS), and became engaged in student activism for the first time. In the 1980s, he was detained several times during national states of emergency—periods of strict restrictions on anti-apartheid activities—which were declared by the apartheid government of the time that was determined to regain control over the population. Tau was later elected president of the Student Representative Council at Pace Commercial College. In 1989, at the age of 19, Tau was elected president of the Soweto Youth Congress,
and later he became a member of the African National Congress Youth League.
Early career
He was 24 years old when he was elected regional secretary of the ANC in Johannesburg and in 1996, he went on to serve on the Southern Metropolitan Local Council's Urban Development Committee. In 2000, Tau was appointed as a Member of the Mayoral Committee (MMC) of Johannesburg, overseeing the portfolios of Developmental Planning, Transportation, and Environment from 2000 to 2003, as well as the Finance and Economic Development portfolio between 2003 and 2011.
Mayor of Johannesburg
After the ANC retained their majority of seats on the Johannesburg City Council in the
municipal elections held on 18 May 2011, Tau was fielded as the party's candidate to succeed
Amos Masondo at the inaugural council meeting on 26 May. Tau easily defeated a challenge from the DA's
Mmusi Maimane
Mmusi Aloysias Maimane (born 6 June 1980) is a South African politician, businessman, and Leader of Build One South Africa, a political party. Maimane is also the former Leader of South Africa's opposition Democratic Alliance (DA) political ...
, winning with over 160 votes to become the second mayor of the Johannesburg metro.
During his time in office, Tau focused on continuing the work of his predecessor, expanding the public transport system, committed to a ZAR 100 billion infrastructure programme, rolled out citywide free Internet access, and added the Jozi@Work employment scheme. In 2012, it was reported that Tau's wife, Pilisiwe Twala-Tau received a stake in a Capitec Bank black economic empowerment deal in 2006 worth around R10 million to manage the Johannesburg council's R2-billion liability redemption fund, led by Regiments Capital. At the time, Tau was the MMC responsible for treasury and was responsible for the awarding of the contract.
For the
2016 municipal elections, Tau was selected as the ANC's mayoral candidate for the metro. In the municipal elections, the ANC's lost its majority on the city council for the first time. The party's vote share in the metro declined to only 45% while the DA received 38% of the vote. The
kingmakers in council, the
Economic Freedom Fighters, subsequently announced that they would vote for the DA's mayoral candidate,
Herman Mashaba
Herman Samtseu Philip Mashaba (born August 26, 1959) is a South African politician, entrepreneur and the current president of ActionSA, a party he launched on 29 August 2020. He served as the Mayor of Johannesburg from 2016 to 2019. He is the fo ...
at the inaugural council meeting to oust Tau. Mashaba was elected mayor on 23 August 2016, defeating Tau in a vote that went 144–125. He subsequently took up the position of leader of the opposition in council.
Gauteng politics
At the ANC's provincial conference in July 2018, Tau was elected as the provincial treasurer of the party.
Provincial legislature and national government
The following year, he vacated his position as leader of the ANC caucus in the Johannesburg City Council after having been elected to 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 ...
in the
2019 general election. Shortly afterwards, Tau was appointed as Deputy Minister of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs in the cabinet of
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 ...
. He was the only deputy minister appointed to not be a Member of Parliament.
Gauteng Executive Council
In December 2020, Gauteng 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 Provi ...
announced a
reshuffle
A cabinet reshuffle or shuffle occurs when a head of government rotates or changes the composition of ministers in their cabinet, or when the Head of State changes the head of government and a number of ministers. They are more common in parli ...
of his provincial executive, in which Tau was appointed as
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: "P ...
(MEC) for Economic Development. He resigned from the National Executive to be sworn in as a member of the Gauteng Provincial Legislature to take up the position.
Morakane Mosupyoe succeeded Tau as provincial treasurer at the ANC's provincial conference in June 2022. Tau was not elected to the ANC Provincial Elective Committee (PEC), which led to speculation that he would be removed from the Executive Council. After
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 gover ...
was promoted to premier in October 2022, he announced his executive council, which excluded Tau. Tau was subsequently made chairperson of the legislature's Finance Committee.
Return to national government
Tau was, however, elected to the
National Executive Committee of the African National Congress
The National Executive Committee (NEC) of the African National Congress (ANC) is the party's chief executive organ. It is elected every five years at the party national conference; the executive committee, in turn, elects a National Working Comm ...
at the party's 55th National Conference in December 2022. On 26 January 2023, it was announced that Tau would be sworn in as a member of the National Assembly of South Africa amid speculation that he would be appointed to cabinet as a minister. On 1 February 2023, Tau was replaced as chairperson of the Gauteng legislature's Finance Committee after he had resigned from the provincial legislature. Tau was sworn in as a Member of Parliament on 6 February 2023. A month later, he returned to the position of Deputy Minister of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs following a cabinet reshuffle done by Ramaphosa.
Philanthropy
Tau is involved in numerous charitable activities.
He took part in the 2013 edition of the Mayoral Charity Golf Day
which raised over
R1 million for various
non-governmental organization
A non-governmental organization (NGO) or non-governmental organisation (see American and British English spelling differences#-ise, -ize (-isation, -ization), spelling differences) is an organization that generally is formed independent from g ...
s that assist in improving the lives of those suffering with
HIV/AIDS
Human immunodeficiency virus infection and acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (HIV/AIDS) is a spectrum of conditions caused by infection with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), a retrovirus. Following initial infection an individual ...
.
On 10 December 2011 and 1 December 2012, Tau hosted a
birthday party
A party is a gathering of people who have been invited by a host for the purposes of socializing, conversation, recreation, or as part of a festival or other commemoration or celebration of a special occasion. A party will often feature f ...
called the ''Every Child Birthday Party'', which is a party hosted for children who may suffer from a range of vulnerabilities, including
disabilities and being
orphan
An orphan (from the el, ορφανός, orphanós) is a child whose parents have died.
In common usage, only a child who has lost both parents due to death is called an orphan. When referring to animals, only the mother's condition is usuall ...
ed.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Tau, Parks
Living people
Mayors of Johannesburg
African National Congress politicians
1970 births
Members of the Gauteng Provincial Legislature
Members of the National Assembly of South Africa