Rodgers Basikopo Makamu (born 2 November 1973) is a

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...

n politician who is currently serving 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 Cooperative Governance, Human Settlements and Traditional Affairs in the

Limpopo Limpopo () is the northernmost Provinces of South Africa, province of South Africa. It is named after the Limpopo River, which forms the province's western and northern borders. The term Limpopo is derived from Rivombo (Livombo/Lebombo), a ...

provincial government. He was formerly MEC for Agriculture and Rural Development between 2018 and 2019. A teacher by training and a member of the

African National Congress The African National Congress (ANC) is a political party in South Africa. It originated as a liberation movement known for its opposition to apartheid and has governed the country since 1994, when the 1994 South African general election, fir ...

(ANC), Makamu was elected to a second term as Deputy Provincial Secretary of the ANC's Limpopo branch in June 2022.

Early life and career

Makamu was born in

Giyani Giyani is a town situated in the north-eastern part of Limpopo Province, South Africa. It is the administrative capital of the Mopani District Municipality and a former capital of the defunct Gazankulu Bantustan. The city of Giyani is divided i ...

in Mopani in present-day

and

matriculated Matriculation is the formal process of entering a university, or of becoming eligible to enter by fulfilling certain academic requirements such as a matriculation examination. Australia In Australia, the term ''matriculation'' is seldom used now ...

at Matsambu High School in Mopani in 1994, the year that

apartheid Apartheid ( , especially South African English: , ; , ) was a system of institutionalised racial segregation that existed in South Africa and South West Africa (now Namibia) from 1948 to the early 1990s. It was characterised by an ...

ended. He trained as an

accounting Accounting, also known as accountancy, is the process of recording and processing information about economic entity, economic entities, such as businesses and corporations. Accounting measures the results of an organization's economic activit ...

teacher but later resigned from the education sector to work in

local government Local government is a generic term for the lowest tiers of governance or public administration within a particular sovereign state. Local governments typically constitute a subdivision of a higher-level political or administrative unit, such a ...

, becoming an accountant and then a manager at the

Greater Giyani Local Municipality Greater Giyani Municipality () is a local municipality within the Mopani District Municipality, in the Limpopo province of South Africa. The seat is Giyani. Main places The 2001 census divided the municipality into the following main places: ...

. He was also a member of the

(ANC), initially through the party's Youth League. He resigned from his municipal job when he was elected to the full-time party position of Regional Secretary of the ANC's branch in Mopani. He was Regional Secretary under Regional Chairperson Seaparo Sekwati and then, after his re-election in September 2017, under Sekwati's successor, Pule Shayi.

Career in provincial government

In June 2018, Makamu vacated the regional party office when he was elected to a more senior position as Deputy Provincial Secretary of the ANC's Limpopo branch. He won in a vote against

Onicca Moloi Mmaneo Onicca Moloi (born 1979/1980) is a South African politician and businesswoman who represented the African National Congress (ANC) in the Limpopo Provincial Legislature from 2014 to 2019. She was also Limpopo's Member of the Executive Co ...

. As deputy secretary, he worked under ANC Provincial Chairperson Stan Mathabatha and ANC Provincial Secretary Soviet Lekganyane. Shortly after his election to the party office, on 26 July 2018, he joined the Limpopo Executive Council: Mathabatha, in his capacity as

Premier of Limpopo The premier of Limpopo is the head of government of Limpopo province of South Africa. The current premier of Limpopo is Phophi Ramathuba, a member of the African National Congress, who was elected on 14 June 2024, following the 2024 national a ...

, appointed Makamu to succeed the late Joyce Mashamba as

(MEC) for Agriculture and Rural Development. In the 2019 general election, Makamu was elected to his first full term as a

Member 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 ...

of 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 of Limpopo, premier and the provincial cabinet, the Executive Council (Sou ...

, ranked second on the ANC's

party list An electoral list is a grouping of candidates for election, usually found in proportional or mixed electoral systems, but also in some plurality electoral systems. An electoral list can be registered by a political party (a party list) or can c ...

. He was appointed MEC for Cooperative Governance, Human Settlements and Traditional Affairs in Mathabatha's newly constituted Executive Council. He was also re-elected to his position as ANC Deputy Provincial Secretary at the party's next provincial elective conference in

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

in June 2022; he ran on a

slate Slate is a fine-grained, foliated, homogeneous, metamorphic rock derived from an original shale-type sedimentary rock composed of clay or volcanic ash through low-grade, regional metamorphism. It is the finest-grained foliated metamorphic ro ...

aligned to Mathabatha, who won re-election as ANC Provincial Chairperson at the same conference, and thereafter he deputised Reuben Madadzhe, who succeeded Soviet Lekganyane as Provincial Secretary. Following the

2024 general election This is a list of elections that were held in 2024. The National Democratic Institute also maintains a calendar of elections around the world. * 2024 United Nations Security Council election * 2024 national electoral calendar * 2024 local electo ...

, Makamu remained as the MEC for Cooperative Governance, Human Settlements and Traditional Affairs in the executive council led by the newly elected premier

Phophi Ramathuba Phophi Constance Ramathuba (born 15 August 1973) is a South African politician and medical doctor serving as Premier of Limpopo since June 2024. A member of the African National Congress, she was sworn into the provincial legislature in May 2015 ...

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Makamu, Basikopo Living people People from Greater Giyani Local Municipality African National Congress politicians 21st-century South African politicians Year of birth missing (living people) Members of the Limpopo Provincial Legislature