Penuell Mpapa Maduna (born 29 December 1952)
is a South African politician and businessman. An anti-
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 ...
activist in his youth, Maduna was appointed to President
Nelson Mandela's government in 1994. Thereafter he served as
Minister of Mineral and Energy Affairs and, between 1999 and 2004, as
Minister of Justice and Constitutional Development
The Minister of Justice and Correctional Services is the justice minister in the government of South Africa. He is the political head of the Department of Justice and Constitutional Development (DoJCD), the Department of Correctional Services (DC ...
. Holding a doctorate of law from
Unisa
The University of South Australia (UniSA) is a public research university in the Australian state of South Australia. It is a founding member of the Australian Technology Network of universities, and is the largest university in South Australi ...
,
he was also a long-time legal adviser to his party, 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 ...
, which he represented during the
negotiations to end apartheid.
His term as Justice Minister, under President
Thabo Mbeki
Thabo Mvuyelwa Mbeki KStJ (; born 18 June 1942) is a South African politician who was the second president of South Africa from 14 June 1999 to 24 September 2008, when he resigned at the request of his party, the African National Congress (ANC ...
, was blighted by controversy arising from prosecutorial investigations into Deputy President
Jacob Zuma on corruption charges. Maduna resigned from politics in 2004 and is now a businessman.
Life and career
Early life
Born 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 Dem ...
on 29 December 1952,
Maduna grew up in Rockville,
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 ...
.
His mother and grandmother were both domestic workers, and the latter was a member of 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 ...
(ANC).
While at the
University of Zululand
The University of Zululand or UniZulu is the only comprehensive tertiary educational institution north of the Tugela River in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. Its new status is in accordance with South Africa's National Plan for Higher Education ...
, he occupied leadership positions in the
South African Students' Organisation
The South African Students' Organisation (SASO) was a body of black South African university students who resisted apartheid through non-violent political action. The organisation was formed in 1969 under the leadership of Steve Biko and Barney ...
,
and he has cited
Black Consciousness
The Black Consciousness Movement (BCM) was a grassroots anti-Apartheid Activism, activist movement that emerged in South Africa in the mid-1960s out of the power vacuum, political vacuum created by the jailing and banning of the African Nationa ...
figures as influential for him during this period.
He was detained and charged in the aftermath of the 1976
Soweto uprising, and, once released, spent the 1980s in exile with the ANC, which was banned inside South Africa at the time.
Political career
Maduna's exile included spells in
Maputo
Maputo (), formerly named Lourenço Marques until 1976, is the capital, and largest city of Mozambique. Located near the southern end of the country, it is within of the borders with Eswatini and South Africa. The city has a population of 1,0 ...
, Mozambique, where he lived with
Albie Sachs
Albert "Albie" Louis Sachs (born 30 January 1935) is a South African lawyer, activist, writer, and former judge appointed to the first Constitutional Court of South Africa by Nelson Mandela.
Early life and education
Albie Sachs was born on ...
; in
New York; and at the ANC headquarters in
Lusaka, Zambia.
In Lusaka, he was a founding member of the ANC's Constitutional Committee, and he attended many of the ANC's early consultative meetings with white South African business and civil society representatives. After the ANC was unbanned in 1990, he became part of the ANC's delegation during the formal
negotiations to end apartheid.
In 1991, he was elected to the
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 ...
of the ANC, and he was re-elected in that capacity until the 2007
Polokwane conference.
When the ANC won South Africa's
first democratic elections, he was appointed
Deputy Minister of Home Affairs under President
Nelson Mandela. In 1996, when the departure of the
National Party from the transitional
Government of National Unity
A national unity government, government of national unity (GNU), or national union government is a broad coalition government consisting of all parties (or all major parties) in the legislature, usually formed during a time of war or other nati ...
occasioned a cabinet reshuffle, he was elevated to
Ministry of Mineral and Energy Affairs. In 1999, newly elected President
Thabo Mbeki
Thabo Mvuyelwa Mbeki KStJ (; born 18 June 1942) is a South African politician who was the second president of South Africa from 14 June 1999 to 24 September 2008, when he resigned at the request of his party, the African National Congress (ANC ...
appointed him
Minister of Justice and Constitutional Development
The Minister of Justice and Correctional Services is the justice minister in the government of South Africa. He is the political head of the Department of Justice and Constitutional Development (DoJCD), the Department of Correctional Services (DC ...
. He served in that office for a single term, resigning from the cabinet and from politics after the
2004 elections.
Career in business
After his retirement from politics, Maduna's first significant venture was as chairperson and part-owner of Tshwarisano, a consortium which acquired 25% of petrochemicals company
Sasol
Sasol Limited is an integrated energy and chemical company based in Sandton, South Africa. The company was formed in 1950 in Sasolburg, South Africa and built on processes that were first developed by German chemists and engineers in the early ...
in a R1.45-billion
black economic empowerment
Black Economic Empowerment (BEE) is a policy of the South African government which aims to facilitate broader participation in the economy by black people. A form of affirmative action, it is intended especially to redress the inequalities creat ...
deal. He has since become chairperson of SAB Zenzele, a black economic empowerment partner of
South African Breweries
South African Breweries (officially The South African Breweries Limited, informally SAB) is a major brewery headquartered in Johannesburg, South Africa and was a wholly owned subsidiary of SABMiller until its interests were sold to Anheuser-B ...
. He has also held senior positions at law firm
Bowman Gilfillan (including the vice chairmanship),
and business interests in platinum mining, property, and banking.
Personal life
Until 2013 he was married to businesswoman Nompumelelo Maduna, with whom he has two adult children.
Controversies
Dispute with Auditor-General
In June 1997, Maduna claimed in
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 ...
that the
Auditor-General
A comptroller (pronounced either the same as ''controller'' or as ) is a management-level position responsible for supervising the quality of accounting and financial reporting of an organization. A financial comptroller is a senior-level execut ...
, Henry Kluever, had covered up R170-million in theft at the Strategic Fuel Fund. 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 ...
,
Selby Baqwa
Selby Baqwa was South Africa's Public Protector from 1995 to 2002 and Lawrence Mushwana
Adv Lawrence Mabendle Mushwana (born 3 March 1948) was the Public Protector of South Africa before advocate Thuli Madonsela succeeded him. Mushwana was appoi ...
, subsequently found that by making this claim Maduna had "violated the spirit of the
Constitution
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 princ ...
,"
and he recommended that disciplinary action should be taken against Maduna. A specially appointed parliamentary committee also found that Maduna's conduct had been unparliamentary and had violated parliamentary rules.
Spying allegations
In October 1997, Maduna was one of several ANC politicians whom opposition MP
Patricia de Lille
Patricia de Lille (née Lindt; born 17 February 1951) is a South African politician who is the current Minister of Public Works and Infrastructure and leader of the political party Good. She was previously Mayor of Cape Town from 2011 to 2018, ...
publicly accused of having spied for the apartheid government. She repeated the accusation – which Maduna denied – in later years.
Investigation of Jacob Zuma
In 2003, Maduna became embroiled in controversy around 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 ...
(NPA), then led by
Bulelani Ngcuka
Bulelani T. Ngcuka (pronounced ; born 2 May 1954) is a South African attorney, prosecutor and activist, who served as the first Director of Public Prosecutions in South Africa, and is the husband of former Deputy President of South Africa Phumz ...
and overseen by Maduna's ministry. Amid NPA investigations into
Arms Deal corruption by ANC politicians, including Deputy President
Jacob Zuma, Zuma allies accused Maduna and Ngcuka of pursuing politically motivated prosecutions.
ANC donor and mining magnate
Brett Kebble also made various allegations against Maduna.
The terms of reference of the
Hefer Commission, a judicial commission of inquiry into allegations against Ngcuka, were extended to investigate whether Maduna had abused his powers at the NPA, and Maduna announced shortly afterwards that he intended to step down after the
2004 elections.
The Hefer Commission did not ultimately investigate Maduna, but Maduna continued to defend Ngcuka against misconduct allegations by Zuma, leading to a highly public spat with the Public Protector
Lawrence Mushwana.
See also
*
The Scorpions
*
History of the African National Congress
:
The African National Congress (ANC) has been the governing party of the Republic of South Africa since 1994. The ANC was founded on 8 January 1912 in Bloemfontein and is the oldest liberation movement in Africa.
Called the South African Nativ ...
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Maduna, Penuell
1952 births
Living people
20th-century South African politicians
Government ministers of South Africa
African National Congress politicians
21st-century South African politicians