Pule Josiah Shayi (born 30 June 1972) is a South African politician who has served as the mayor of

Mopani District Municipality Mopani is one of the 5 districts of Limpopo province of South Africa. The seat of Mopani is Giyani. According to the 2016 Community Survey it has a population of 1,159,185. The district code is DC33. After the 12th amendment of the Constitution of ...

since 2019. Before that, he was Mayor of

Ba-Phalaborwa Local Municipality Ba-Phalaborwa Local Municipality is located in the Mopani District Municipality of Limpopo province, South Africa. The seat of Ba-Phalaborwa Local Municipality is Phalaborwa. Main places The 2011 census divided the municipality into the following ...

from 2016 to 2019. He is best known as the Regional Chairperson 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) in the Mopani region, an office he has held since 2017.

Early life and education

Shayi was born on 30 June 1972 in Mashishimale near

Phalaborwa Phalaborwa (translated to English as ''better than the south; phala'' means ''better than and borwa'' means ''south'') is a town in the Mopani District Municipality, Limpopo province, South Africa. It is located near the confluence of the Ga-Se ...

in the former

Northern Transvaal Northern may refer to the following: Geography * North, a point in direction * Northern Europe, the northern part or region of Europe * Northern Highland, a region of Wisconsin, United States * Northern Province, Sri Lanka * Northern Range, a ...

. He has teaching diploma and a

Bachelor of Arts Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four year ...

in media studies from the

University of South Africa The University of South Africa (UNISA), known colloquially as Unisa, is the largest university system in South Africa by enrollment. It attracts a third of all higher education students in South Africa. Through various colleges and affiliates, U ...

. In November 2022, he completed a

Master of Business Administration A Master of Business Administration (MBA; also Master's in Business Administration) is a postgraduate degree focused on business administration. The core courses in an MBA program cover various areas of business administration such as accoun ...

Regenesys Business School Regenesys Business School is a private business schools based in Johannesburg, South Africa. The Regenesys Group includes Regenesys School of Public Management, Regenesys Foundation, MyWealth Investments, a loans department and having campuses ...

. In addition, in 2015 he visited

Beijing } Beijing ( ; ; ), alternatively romanized as Peking ( ), is the capital of the People's Republic of China. It is the center of power and development of the country. Beijing is the world's most populous national capital city, with over 21 ...

to pursue a political development programme at the

Party School The term party school is used to refer to a college or university (usually in the United States) that has a reputation for heavy alcoholic beverage, alcohol and drug use or a general culture of licentiousness at the expense of educational credi ...

of the

Chinese Communist Party The Chinese Communist Party (CCP), officially the Communist Party of China (CPC), is the founding and sole ruling party of the People's Republic of China (PRC). Under the leadership of Mao Zedong, the CCP emerged victorious in the Chinese Civil ...

Early career

While earning a teaching diploma at Mapulaneng College of Education, Shayi became active in 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 ...

, an anti-apartheid political organisation. After graduation, he became an active member of the 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 ...

and rose through the local and regional ranks of both. He was also a member of the South African National Civic Organisation and the South African Democratic Teachers' Union. After the end of apartheid, Shayi worked in public administration, including in several government departments and in local government; he therefore also joined the

South African Municipal Workers' Union The South African Municipal Workers Union (SAMWU) is the largest union in local government in South Africa. History The union was founded on 24 October 1987, when the Municipal Workers' Union of South Africa merged with the Cape Town Municipal ...

. In the 2014 general election, he stood as a candidate for election to an ANC seat in 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 ...

; however, he was ranked 40th on the ANC's provincial party list and narrowly missed out on winning a seat.

Mayor of Ba-Phalaborwa: 2016–2019

Pursuant to the 2016 local elections, Shayi was elected Mayor of

; he was sworn in on 16 August. Just over a year into his tenure, at a regional party elective conference held in

Tzaneen Tzaneen () is a large tropical garden town situated in the Mopani District Municipality of the Limpopo province in South Africa. It is situated in a high rainfall fertile region with tropical and subtropical agriculture taking place in a region ...

in September 2017, Shayi was elected Regional Chairperson of the ANC's Mopani regional branch, the largest in Limpopo. He defeated the incumbent, Seaparo Sekoati, to win the position, receiving 155 votes against Sekoati's 131. Violet Mathye was elected as his deputy and

Basikopo Makamu Rodgers Basikopo Makamu is a South African politician who is currently serving as Limpopo Executive Council, Member of the Executive Council (MEC) for Cooperative Governance, Human Settlements and Traditional Affairs in the Limpopo provincial ...

was elected as regional secretary. At that time, Shayi was presumed to support Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma's campaign to win election as ANC president at the party's 54th National Conference, scheduled for December 2017 – indeed, the '' Sowetan'' reported that two Dlamini-Zuma lieutenants, Makoma Makhurupetje and Nkakareng Rakgoale, had been instrumental in engineering Shayi's victory. The outcome was therefore viewed as a serious blow to 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 ...

, who was running against Dlamini-Zuma for the party presidency.

Mayor of Mopani: 2019–present

On 7 June 2019, Shayi was sworn in as Executive Mayor of

. His election followed a hotly contested battle among regional ANC leaders to succeed Nkakareng Rakgoale in the mayoral office after Rakgoale was appointed to 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 ...

. Shayi was succeeded as Ba-Phalaborwa mayor by Merriam Malatji. In June 2021, he was re-elected unopposed as regional chairperson of the ANC's Mopani branch (recently renamed after Norman Mashabane). By then, he was viewed as having changed allegiances in favour of Ramaphosa. During that year's local elections, Shayi was ranked first on the ANC's list of candidates in Mopani and he gained re-election to a full term in the mayoral office. In addition, in March 2022 he was elected to the 12-member National Executive Committee of the

South African Local Government Association The South African Local Government Association (SALGA) is a national, voluntary political association in South Africa. It is a public entity composed of South Africa's local governments. The association's members are made of all South Africa's 257 ...

. He is also a member and regional leader 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 ...

ANC leadership campaign

In early 2022, the ANC's Norman Mashabane region announced that it would back its chairperson, Shayi, for election as ANC Provincial Chairperson in Limpopo at the next provincial party elective conference in June 2022. Shayi ultimately did not stand for the chairmanship but instead became the running mate of Dickson Masemola, who sought to challenge the incumbent,

Stan Mathabatha Chupu Stanley Mathabatha (born 21 January 1957) is a South African politician who is currently the Premier of Limpopo. He was elected to the position in July 2013 after the resignation of Cassel Mathale. He was previously a public servant in L ...

, for the chair on a slate which also included Soviet Lekganyane. When the provincial elective conference opened in

Polokwane Polokwane (, meaning "Sanctuary" in Northern SothoPolokwane - The Heart of the Limpopo Province ...

in June 2022, Shayi was duly nominated to stand for the Deputy Provincial Chairperson position; he ran against the Mathabatha-allied candidate and incumbent, Florence Radzilani. However, when voting closed, Mathabatha and his slate of candidates won a clean sweep of the top leadership positions.

References

External links

* 1972 births People from Ba-Phalaborwa Local Municipality African National Congress politicians 21st-century South African politicians Members of the South African Communist Party Mayors of places in South Africa {{DEFAULTSORT:Shayi_Pule University of South Africa alumni Living people