Tasneem Motara (born 7 December 1982) is a South African politician who has been the Gauteng MEC (Member of the Executive Council) for Economic Development since 2022 and a member of 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 ...

since 2019. She was the MEC for Infrastructure Development and Property Management between May 2019 and October 2022. From May 2014 to May 2019, she represented

Gauteng Gauteng ( ) is one of the nine provinces of South Africa. The name in Sotho-Tswana languages means 'place of gold'. Situated on the Highveld, Gauteng is the smallest province by land area in South Africa. Although Gauteng accounts for only ...

in the

National Council of Provinces The National Council of Provinces (NCOP) is the upper house of the Parliament of South Africa under the (post-apartheid) constitution which came into full effect in 1997. It replaced the former Senate, but is very similar to that body, and to ...

. She served as the chief whip of the provincial delegation. Motara is 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 ...

Early life and education

Motara was born on 7 December 1982, to an Indian father and a Coloured mother, in Benoni,

Transvaal Province The Province of the Transvaal ( af, Provinsie van Transvaal), commonly referred to as the Transvaal (; ), was a province of South Africa from 1910 until 1994, when a new constitution subdivided it following the end of apartheid. The name "Trans ...

. After finishing high school, Motara studied for a degree in psychology 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 ...

Political career

Motara joined the

African National Congress 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 ...

's branch in Benoni in 2000. She has served on the branch executive committees of multiple wards and branches. She currently serves on the ANC's regional executive committee in

Ekurhuleni The City of Ekurhuleni Metropolitan Municipality is a metropolitan municipality that forms the local government of the East Rand region of Gauteng. The municipality itself is a large suburban region east of Johannesburg. The name ''Ekurhuleni'' m ...

. Motara was also 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 ...

. Following the 2014 general election, Motara was elected to represent

in the

, the upper house of the

South African Parliament The Parliament of the Republic of South Africa is South Africa's legislature; under the present Constitution of South Africa, the bicameral Parliament comprises a National Assembly and a National Council of Provinces. The current twenty-seve ...

. She was appointed chief whip of the provincial delegation. In June 2018, the Parliamentary Monitoring Group published a report on the ages of parliamentarians. In the report, Motara was named the seventh youngest parliamentarian as well as the youngest ANC MP of both houses. In the 2019 Gauteng provincial election, Motara was elected to the

. She was sworn in as an MPL on 22 May. 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 ...

appointed her MEC for Infrastructure Development and Property Management on 29 May. She was sworn in the following day. On 27 June 2022, Motara was elected as the deputy provincial secretary of the ANC in Gauteng. In October 2022, she became the MEC for Economic Development in the executive council of premier

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 ...

Personal life

In January 2018, Motara announced that she was

HIV The human immunodeficiency viruses (HIV) are two species of ''Lentivirus'' (a subgroup of retrovirus) that infect humans. Over time, they cause acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS), a condition in which progressive failure of the immune ...

positive after her former partner threatened to expose her status. She 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 identified in Wuhan, China, in December 2019. The disease quickly ...

on 3 July 2020.

References

External links

Ms Tasneem Motara – People's Assembly
{{DEFAULTSORT:Motara, Tasneem Living people 1982 births People from Benoni African National Congress politicians Politicians from Gauteng 21st-century South African politicians 21st-century South African women politicians Members of the Gauteng Provincial Legislature Members of the National Council of Provinces Women members of the National Council of Provinces Women members of provincial legislatures of South Africa