Malambule Samuel Mashinini (born 22 November 1959) is a South African politician and trade union leader who has been a member of the

Free State Provincial Legislature The Free State Provincial Legislature is the primary legislative body of the South African province of Free State. It is unicameral in its composition, and elects the premier and the executive council from among the members of the leading party ...

since 2014. 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 ...

, he was elected to the

in May 2014. He was then appointed as Member of the Executive Council (MEC) for the Department of Public Works and Infrastructure. A year later, he became the MEC for Economic and Small Business Development, Tourism and Environmental Affairs. Mashinini was appointed MEC for Police, Roads & Transport in October 2016. He was dismissed in October 2021.

Early life and education

Mashinini was born on 22 November 1959 on the Proefplaas Farm. He received his primary school education on the farm, before moving to

Bethlehem Bethlehem (; ar, بيت لحم ; he, בֵּית לֶחֶם '' '') is a city in the central West Bank, Palestine, about south of Jerusalem. Its population is approximately 25,000,Amara, 1999p. 18.Brynen, 2000p. 202. and it is the capital o ...

for his high school education, where he became involved in politics. He furthered his high school education in Selelekel in QwaQwa. He earned two honours degrees from the

University of the Witwatersrand The University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg (), is a multi-campus South African Public university, public research university situated in the northern areas of central Johannesburg. It is more commonly known as Wits University or Wits ( o ...

Political career

Mashinini started working at the President Steyn Gold Mine in Welkom in 1982, where he joined the National Union of Mineworkers. He was then elected as NUM shop-steward for Shaft no 4 at the gold mine. He soon became shaft chairperson. In the 1990s, Mashinini was elected as the deputy regional secretary of NUM in the Free State before he was elected as regional secretary, a position which he held for two terms. He was appointed as the acting provincial secretary 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 ...

in the Free State and the Northern Cape in 1999. The following year, he was elected as the provincial secretary of COSATU. He held this position until 2014. In 2011, Mashinini was elected to the provincial executive committee (PEC) of the

in the Free State. He was elected to the National Executive Committee of the African National Congress in 2012. He is currently serving as a member of the provincial working committee 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 ...

. He also served on the Free State Development Corporation.

Provincial government

In 2014, Mashinini was elected to the

as a member of the ANC. Premier Ace Magashule appointed him as the Member of the Executive Council (MEC) for the Department of Public Works and Infrastructure. During an executive council reshuffle in May 2015, Mashinini was appointed as the MEC for Economic and Small Business Development, Tourism and Environmental Affairs by Magashule. In October 2016, Mashinini became the MEC for Police, Roads & Transport, replacing Butana Komphela. Magashule resigned as premier and

Sisi Ntombela Sefora Hixsonia "Sisi" Ntombela (born 16 April 1957) is a South African politician who is the 6th Premier of the Free State and a Member of the Free State Provincial Legislature. She previously served as the Free State MEC for Cooperative Govern ...

was elected to replace him. Ntombela kept Mashinini as the MEC for Police, Roads & Transport. In May 2018, he was elected as the provincial chairperson of the ANC in the Free State. Mashinini has been described as an ally of the former premier. He remained as the MEC for Police, Roads & Transport after the 2019 elections. On 31 March 2021, the Supreme Court of Appeal (SCA) declared the 2018 ANC Free State elective conference unlawful and unconstitutional, removing Mashinini as the ANC's provincial chairperson. On 27 September 2021, Ntombela suspended Mashinini as the MEC for Police, Roads & Transport pending an investigation into the lack of progress into the construction of roads between Reitz and

Tweeling __NOTOC__ Tweeling (meaning twin in Dutch and Afrikaans) is a small town situated 22 km from Frankfort in the Free State province of South Africa. The adjacent black township is named Mafahlaneng, or "place of twins". This region of the hi ...

, Cornelia and Villiers, and

Oranjeville Oranjeville is a small town situated on the banks of the Wilge River in the Free State province of South Africa. The town is on the southern bank of the Vaal Dam, south-east of Deneysville and north-east of Heilbron. It takes its name from t ...

and

Deneysville Deneysville is a small town on the banks of the Vaal Dam in the Free State province of South Africa. History Deneysville was established in 1936 and named after Deneys Reitz, writer of ''Commando: A Boer Journal of the Boer War'' and son of f ...

. Ntombela fired him on 1 October and replaced him with William Bulwane.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Mashinini, Sam Living people 1959 births Sotho people University of the Witwatersrand alumni African National Congress politicians Members of the Free State Provincial Legislature