Cassel Mathale
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Cassel Mathale (born 23 January 1961) 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 was the third Premier of Limpopo between March 2009 and July 2013. He is currently the Deputy Minister of Police in the
South African government The Government of South Africa, or South African Government, is the national government of the Republic of South Africa, a parliamentary republic with a three-tier system of government and an independent judiciary, operating in a parliamentary ...
and before that was Deputy Minister of Small Business Development from February 2018 to May 2019. Formerly an anti-apartheid activist in the United Democratic Front, Mathale began his political career 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 of Limpopo, premier and the provincial cabinet, the Executive Council (Sou ...
and in the Limpopo branch 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). He served as Provincial Secretary of the ANC in Limpopo from 2002 to 2008, when he was elected the party's Provincial Chairperson. Additionally, from December 2008 he was a
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 ...
for Roads and Transport in the Limpopo provincial government under Premier Sello Moloto. When Moloto resigned in March 2009, Mathale became acting Premier and then was formally elected as Premier by the provincial legislature. Though re-elected as ANC Provincial Chairperson in December 2011, Mathale lost the position when the ANC National Executive Committee disbanded the ANC Provincial Executive Committee in March 2013, amid a scandal which appeared to implicate Mathale and his close ally
Julius Malema Julius Sello Malema (born 3 March 1981) is a South African politician. He is the founder and leader of the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF), a communist political party known for the red berets and military-style outfits worn by its members. Be ...
in improper conduct. Several months later, the national ANC withdrew its support for Mathale's premiership and asked him to resign. He did so on 15 July 2013. After his resignation from the Limpopo government in July 2013, Mathale was sworn in as a Member of the
National Assembly In politics, a national assembly is either a unicameral legislature, the lower house of a bicameral legislature, or both houses of a bicameral legislature together. In the English language it generally means "an assembly composed of the repr ...
. Several years into Mathale's tenure in
Parliament In modern politics and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: Representation (politics), representing the Election#Suffrage, electorate, making laws, and overseeing ...
, President
Cyril Ramaphosa Matamela Cyril Ramaphosa (born 17 November 1952) is a South African businessman and politician serving as the 5th and current President of South Africa since 2018. A former Anti-Apartheid Movement, anti-apartheid activist and trade union leade ...
appointed him Deputy Minister of Small Business Development in February 2018 and then Deputy Minister of Police in May 2019.


Early life and activism

Cassel Charlie Mathale was born on 23 January 1961 in Tzaneen outside
Polokwane Polokwane (, meaning "Sanctuary" in Northern SothoPolokwane - The Heart of the Limpopo Provin ...
in what was then the Northern Transvaal, now
Limpopo province Limpopo () is the northernmost 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 group of Tsonga settlers ...
. He matriculated at Phangasasa High School in Tzaneen and earned a
Bachelor's degree A bachelor's degree (from Medieval Latin ''baccalaureus'') or baccalaureate (from Modern Latin ''baccalaureatus'') is an undergraduate degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to six years ...
in
social science Social science (often rendered in the plural as the social sciences) is one of the branches of science, devoted to the study of societies and the relationships among members within those societies. The term was formerly used to refer to the ...
s from the
University of the Western Cape The University of the Western Cape (UWC; ) is a Public university, public research university in Bellville, South Africa, Bellville, near Cape Town, South Africa. The university was established in 1959 by the Politics of South Africa, South ...
in
Cape Town Cape Town is the legislature, legislative capital city, capital of South Africa. It is the country's oldest city and the seat of the Parliament of South Africa. Cape Town is the country's List of municipalities in South Africa, second-largest ...
. In the 1980s and early 1990s, Mathale was politically active in anti-apartheid organisations in the Northern Transvaal, including local and regional branches of the Azanian Students Organisation, the Muhlava Youth Congress and Northern Transvaal Youth Congress, the Tzaneen Education Crisis Committee, and, once it had been established, the South African Students Congress. He was a member of the regional executive committee of the United Democratic Front (UDF) in Northern Transvaal from 1986 to 1990 and was president of the South African Youth Congress in Northern Transvaal in 1990. He was detained between 1986 and 1989 under the Terrorism Act. Additionally, in 1990, Mathale was appointed as a member of its interim leadership core of the Northern Transvaal branch 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), which had recently been unbanned by the apartheid government and was re-establishing its structures inside South Africa. Subsequently he sat on the regional executive committee of the ANC in Northern Transvaal from 1990 to 1991 and again from 1993 to 1996.


Post-apartheid career

In South Africa's first democratic elections in 1994, Mathale was elected 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 ...
and also became Commissioner for Youth Affairs in the provincial government. He served on the Provincial Executive Committee of the Limpopo ANC between 1994 and 1997. He left the provincial legislature and government in 1996, and the ANC provincial executive in 1997, but in 1996 was elected to a two-year term as a member of the
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 (N ...
's National Executive Committee. In subsequent years he held a variety of positions in ANC structures in Limpopo: he was regional secretary for the ANC's North East Limpopo region from 1998 to 2000, a member of the regional executive committee of the ANC's Mopani region in 2000, and a member of the branch executive committee at a local ANC branch in
Nkowankowa Nkowankowa is a township in the Greater Tzaneen Local Municipality of the Mopani District Municipality in the Limpopo province of South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernm ...
from 2001 to 2002.


ANC Provincial Secretary: 2002–2008

In 2002, Mathale was elected Provincial Secretary of the ANC in Limpopo, one of the most senior leadership positions in the provincial party. Although it was a full-time position based at ANC headquarters, the ''
Mail & Guardian The ''Mail & Guardian'', formerly the ''Weekly Mail'', is a South African weekly newspaper and website, published by M&G Media in Johannesburg, South Africa. It focuses on political analysis, investigative reporting, Southern African news, loca ...
'' observed that Mathale was simultaneously a "well-known entrepreneur" in Limpopo, with directorships in at least ten companies in the
mining Mining is the Resource extraction, extraction of valuable geological materials and minerals from the surface of the Earth. Mining is required to obtain most materials that cannot be grown through agriculture, agricultural processes, or feasib ...
, construction, farming, and hospitality sectors. At the same time, towards the end of his second term as Provincial Secretary, Mathale launched a bid to replace Sello Moloto as Provincial Chairperson of the ANC in Limpopo. He was supported by the Limpopo branch of the ANC Youth League, which at that time was led by league provincial secretary
Julius Malema Julius Sello Malema (born 3 March 1981) is a South African politician. He is the founder and leader of the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF), a communist political party known for the red berets and military-style outfits worn by its members. Be ...
. The league had turned against Moloto when Moloto supported incumbent ANC President
Thabo Mbeki Thabo Mvuyelwa Mbeki (; born 18 June 1942) is a South African politician who served as the 2nd democratic president of South Africa from 14 June 1999 to 24 September 2008, when he resigned at the request of his party, the African National Cong ...
in his succession battle with ANC Deputy President
Jacob Zuma Jacob Gedleyihlekisa Zuma (; born 12 April 1942) is a South African politician who served as the fourth president of South Africa from 2009 to 2018. He is also referred to by his initials JZ and clan names Nxamalala and Msholozi. Zuma was a for ...
, who ultimately ousted Mbeki at the ANC's 52nd National Conference. In early 2008, Mathale and Moloto's rivalry became highly divisive in the Limpopo ANC; their respective supporters clashed violently on several occasions.


ANC Provincial Chairperson: 2008–2013

The Limpopo ANC held its elective conference in July 2008 at the University of Venda and, on 17 July, it elected Mathale as Provincial Chairperson of the ANC in Limpopo. Mathale beat Moloto by more than 200 votes. Two weeks later, the Mathale-led Provincial Executive Committee declined a request from the national ANC to nominate three people to stand as the ANC's candidate for Premier of Limpopo in the 2009 general election; instead, the committee submitted only one name, Mathale's. The provincial party also put Moloto, the incumbent Premier, under significant pressure, exhorting him to reshuffle the provincial executive and appoint Mathale to a senior government position. Finally, in December 2008, Moloto appointed Mathale 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 Roads and Transport, after the incumbent, Justice Piitso, resigned. In addition, both as provincial secretary and as provincial chairperson, Mathale was an
ex officio An ''ex officio'' member is a member of a body (notably a board, committee, or council) who is part of it by virtue of holding another office. The term '' ex officio'' is Latin, meaning literally 'from the office', and the sense intended is 'by r ...
member of the ANC National Executive Committee.


Premier of Limpopo

In March 2009, Moloto resigned as Premier and defected from the ANC to the Congress of the People, a new pro-Mbeki breakaway party. The Limpopo Executive Council appointed Mathale as acting Premier of Limpopo from 3 to 23 March 2009 while the provincial legislature prepared to select Moloto's successor. Although there was some speculation that Maite Nkoana-Mashabane might be appointed Premier instead of Mathale, he was formally sworn in to the office on 24 March. Pursuant to the general election in May that year, he was elected to a full term as Premier. He was also re-elected as ANC Provincial Chairperson in December 2011, despite growing opposition to his leadership of the province. Discontent rested partly with the Limpopo provincial branches of the ANC's partners in the
Tripartite Alliance The Tripartite Alliance is an alliance between the African National Congress (ANC), the Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU) and the South African Communist Party (SACP). The ANC holds a plurality in the South African parliament, ...
, the Congress of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu) and the
South African Communist Party The South African Communist Party (SACP) is a communist party in South Africa. It was founded on 12 February 1921 as the Communist Party of South Africa (CPSA), and tactically dissolved itself in 1950 in the face of being declared illegal by t ...
(SACP), which had publicly called for Mathale's resignation, accusing him of presiding over a
corrupt Corruption is a form of dishonesty or a criminal offense that is undertaken by a person or an organization that is entrusted in a position of authority to acquire illicit benefits or abuse power for one's gain. Corruption may involve activities ...
administration. At the same time, on some accounts, opposition to Mathale was linked to broader leadership struggles in the national ANC: Mathale remained an ally of Julius Malema, and together the pair were viewed as having turned against Zuma and as agitating for the ANC to depose Zuma at the ANC's 53rd National Conference, scheduled for December 2012. Yet when the Limpopo ANC held its elective conference, Mathale beat his challenger, Joe Phaahla, with 601 votes against Phaahla's 519. However, Mathale did not complete his full term either as Premier or as ANC Provincial Chairperson. In the weeks before the conference which re-elected Mathale, several newspapers had reported that Mathale's administration faced severe financial shortfalls and that Mathale had requested a R700-million
bailout A bailout is the provision of financial help to a corporation or country which otherwise would be on the brink of bankruptcy. A bailout differs from the term ''bail-in'' (coined in 2010) under which the bondholders or depositors of global syst ...
from the National Treasury after commercial banks withdrew their credit lines. In early December 2011, five provincial departments in Mathale's administration, including the provincial treasury under MEC David Masondo, had been placed under administration by the national government. Mathale's supporters later claimed that this move rendered Mathale "a lame duck premier" in subsequent months. In January 2012, after Mathale's re-election as ANC chair, the full scale of the province's administrative and financial problems emerged. Both the Auditor-General and the national
Ministry of Finance A ministry of finance is a ministry or other government agency in charge of government finance, fiscal policy, and financial regulation. It is headed by a finance minister, an executive or cabinet position . A ministry of finance's portfoli ...
reported publicly about the R2-billion budget shortfall faced by the Limpopo government, which they said was caused by a lack of spending restraint, including significant expenditure on contracts marred by procurement irregularities; both appeared to blame the crisis on the province's political leadership. In February, a spokesman for the
Hawks Hawks are bird of prey, birds of prey of the family Accipitridae. They are very widely distributed and are found on all continents, except Antarctica. The subfamily Accipitrinae includes goshawks, sparrowhawks, sharp-shinned hawks, and othe ...
said that Mathale, his wife, and Julius Malema were under investigation on allegations of corruption and business irregularities. Other state agencies undertook their own investigations into procurement irregularities. Later in 2012, Mathale's business partner, Selby Manthatha, was charged with corruption,
fraud In law, fraud is intent (law), intentional deception to deprive a victim of a legal right or to gain from a victim unlawfully or unfairly. Fraud can violate Civil law (common law), civil law (e.g., a fraud victim may sue the fraud perpetrato ...
, and
money laundering Money laundering is the process of illegally concealing the origin of money obtained from illicit activities (often known as dirty money) such as drug trafficking, sex work, terrorism, corruption, and embezzlement, and converting the funds i ...
; the National Prosecuting Authority alleged that Manthatha and other members of his family had bribed Malema to obtain government tenders.


Succession as Premier

In December 2012, the ANC's 53rd National Conference re-elected Jacob Zuma as ANC president. At the conference, Mathale stood unsuccessfully for direct election to the ANC's National Executive Committee. Several months later, allegations of corruption and maladministration in Limpopo continued to receive a great deal of national attention; some members of the ANC in Limpopo also complained that Mathale had sown division in the party. Others, however, suggested that opposition to Mathale was primarily a form of retribution for his opposition to Zuma's re-election. On 18 March 2013, the ANC National Executive Committee announced that it had dissolved the entire Provincial Executive Committee of the Limpopo ANC, prematurely ending Mathale's term as Provincial Chairperson. Fresh leadership elections would be organised by an interim leadership corps appointed by the national party leadership. ANC Secretary General Gwede Mantashe said that the Mathale-led committee had been dissolved "for displaying totally un-ANC behaviour and institutionalised factional conflict". In July 2013, the national leadership of the ANC asked Mathale to resign as Premier, "recalling" him from the post in line with the party's cadre deployment policy. In a statement on 15 July, Mathale announced that he had complied with this request and had submitted his resignation letter. In the statement, he insisted that he and his administration had, "contrary to the wrong perception", strongly opposed "all forms of corruption within our jurisdiction". His resignation as Premier was effective from 15 July 2013. The National Education, Health and Allied Workers' Union, a Cosatu affiliate, praised the national ANC for its decision, saying, "Without being triumphalists, our union is happy to see that the ANC has at long last endorsed our view that Mr Mathale was a liability and an embarrassment to our movement and government".


National government

The same day that his resignation as Premier took effect, Mathale was sworn in as a Member of the
National Assembly In politics, a national assembly is either a unicameral legislature, the lower house of a bicameral legislature, or both houses of a bicameral legislature together. In the English language it generally means "an assembly composed of the repr ...
, the lower house of the
national Parliament In modern politics and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: Representation (politics), representing the Election#Suffrage, electorate, making laws, and overseeing ...
. The Limpopo branch of Cosatu opposed his appointment. Nonetheless, he was elected to a full five-year term in the National Assembly in the 2014 general election and on 25 October 2017 he was appointed chairperson of the Portfolio Committee on Public Service and Administration. On 26 February 2018, Mathale gave up his committee chairmanship to take office as the Deputy Minister of Small Business Development under Minister
Lindiwe Zulu Lindiwe Daphney Zulu (born 21 April 1958) is a South African politician and communications strategist who served as Minister of Social Development (South Africa), Minister of Social Development from May 2019 to May 2024. Before that she was the M ...
. He was installed in that position in a
cabinet reshuffle A cabinet reshuffle or shuffle occurs when a head of government rotates or changes the composition of ministers in their cabinet, or when the head of state changes the head of government and a number of ministers. They are more common in parliam ...
by President
Cyril Ramaphosa Matamela Cyril Ramaphosa (born 17 November 1952) is a South African businessman and politician serving as the 5th and current President of South Africa since 2018. A former Anti-Apartheid Movement, anti-apartheid activist and trade union leade ...
, who had recently ascended to the presidency following the resignation of President Jacob Zuma. In the 2019 general election, Mathale was re-elected to the National Assembly and Ramaphosa appointed him Deputy Minister of Police under Minister Bheki Cele.


Personal life

Mathale is married and has children.


See also

*
History of the African National Congress : The African National Congress (ANC) has been the governing party of the South Africa, 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 ...
* Politics in South Africa


References


External links

*
Interview
with the ''
Daily Maverick ''Daily Maverick'' is an independent, South African, English language, online news publication and weekly print newspaper, with offices in the country's two most populous cities: Cape Town (the site of its headquarters) and Johannesburg. ...
'' (2011) {{DEFAULTSORT:Mathale, Cassel 1961 births Living people Northern Sotho people African National Congress politicians Premiers of Limpopo University of the Western Cape alumni Members of the Limpopo Provincial Legislature Members of the National Assembly of South Africa 2024–2029 Members of the National Assembly of South Africa 2019–2024 Members of the National Assembly of South Africa 2009–2014 Members of the National Assembly of South Africa 2014–2019