The Executive Council of the Free State is the cabinet of the executive branch of the

provincial government A state government is the government that controls a subdivision of a country in a federal form of government, which shares political power with the federal or national government. A state government may have some level of political autonomy, o ...

in the South African

province A province is an administrative division within a country or sovereign state, state. The term derives from the ancient Roman , which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire, Roman Empire's territorial possessions ou ...

of the Free State. The Members of the Executive Council (MECs) are appointed from among the members 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 of the Free State, who in turn selects the members of the Executive ...

by the

Premier of the Free State The premier of the Free State is the head of government of the Free State province of South Africa. The current premier of the Free State is Maqueen Letsoha-Mathae, who was elected on 14 June 2024. She is a member of the African National Cong ...

, an office held since May 2024 by

Maqueen Letsoha-Mathae Maqueen Joyce Letsoha-Mathae (born 3 February 1969) is a South African politician who is currently serving as the 8th Premier of the Free State. She was previously in the Free State Executive Council as the Member of the Executive Council (MEC) ...

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).

Direko premiership: 1999–2004

Winkie Direko Isabella Winkie Direko (27 November 192917 February 2012) was a South African politician born in the Free State province of South Africa. She was a member of the African National Congress and served as Premier of the Free State from 1999 to 200 ...

was elected as the Free State's third Premier in the 1999 general election. She reshuffled her Executive Council on 28 June 2001, firing three MECs: Tate Makgoe, Anna Buthelezi-Phori, and Casca Mokitlane.

Marshoff premiership: 2004–2009

Beatrice Marshoff was elected Premier in the 2004 general elections; her new Executive Council was sworn in on 3 May 2004. In April 2005, over the course of two weeks, Marshoff announced two wide-ranging reshuffles in which three MECs –

Ace Magashule Elias Sekgobelo "Ace" Magashule (born 3 November 1959) is a South African politician and former anti-apartheid activist who served as the Secretary General of the African National Congress (ANC), South Africa's governing party, between December ...

, Itumeleng Benny Kotsoane, and Benny Malakoane – were sacked and others changed portfolios. In August 2007, in another reshuffle, Magashule was returned to the cabinet and another MEC, Playfair Morule, was removed; several other MECs also changed portfolios. In January 2008,

Mxolisi Dukwana Mxolisi Abraham Dukwana (born 14 September 1964) is a South African politician who has served as the speaker of the Free State Provincial Legislature since June 2024. He was elected Provincial Executive Committees of the African National Congr ...

was appointed as MEC for Public Safety and Security and Mamiki Qabathe was appointed MEC for Agriculture. In October that year, both changed portfolios, along with two other MECs, in a reshuffle affecting four portfolios but involving no sackings. In February 2009, Dukwana additionally took on, in an acting capacity, the education portfolio, after Education MEC Casca Mokitlane resigned and defected from the ANC ahead of the 2009 general election.

Magashule premiership

First term: 2009–2014

On 11 May 2009, following his election as Premier in the 2009 general election,

announced his new Executive Council, which included six new appointments; in addition, the names of four departments were changed. In February 2011, Magashule announced a reshuffle in which four MECs changed portfolios and in which responsibility for rural development was moved from the public works portfolio to the agriculture portfolio. In June of that year, he appointed Butana Komphela to replace Thabo Manyoni as MEC for Police, Roads and Transport; Manyoni had left the provincial government to become Mayor of

Mangaung Bloemfontein ( ; ), also known as Bloem, is the capital and the largest city of the Free State province in South Africa. It is often, and has been traditionally, referred to as the country's "judicial capital", alongside the legislative cap ...

. Magashule effected two further reshuffles before the end of the provincial legislature's term. In February 2012, he fired Economic Development MEC

and replaced him with Mamiki Qabathe;

Olly Mlamleli Sarah Matawana "Olly" Mlamleli (born 1957) is a South African politician who served as the mayor of the Mangaung Metropolitan Municipality from August 2016 until August 2020. A member of the African National Congress, she served as the Member of ...

was appointed to the Executive Council to take over Qabathe's former portfolio. In March 2013, Magashule fired Finance MEC

Seiso Mohai Seiso Joel Mohai (born 8 November 1966) is a South African politician from the Free State. A member of the African National Congress, he has been the Deputy Minister of Planning, Monitoring and Evaluation since 3 July 2024. Before that, he w ...

, replacing him with Elzabe Rockman, and appointed Benny Malakoane to fill the vacancy in the health portfolio that had arisen after Fezi Ngumbentombi's death in December 2012; Qabathe also swopped portfolios with Msebenzi Zwane.

Second term: 2014–2018

Pursuant to his re-election in the 2014 general election, Magashule announced his new Executive Council on 29 May 2014. He made only limited changes, replacing Dan Kgothule with Mathabo Leeto as MEC for Sports, Arts, Culture and Recreation and replacing Sisi Mabe, who became

Speaker Speaker most commonly refers to: * Speaker, a person who produces speech * Loudspeaker, a device that produces sound ** Computer speakers Speaker, Speakers, or The Speaker may also refer to: Arts and entertainment * "Speaker" (song), by David ...

of the provincial legislature, with Sam Mashinini as MEC for Public Works. He also added small business development to Msebenzi Zwane's economic development portfolio. In May 2015, Magashule announced the first reshuffle of his second term, occasioned by the departure of Mamiki Qabathe, who succeeded Mabe as Speaker. In September 2015, Zwane, who had replaced Qabathe in the agriculture portfolio in the May reshuffle, was sworn into 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 ...

to become national Minister of Mineral Resources; he was replaced in the Executive Council by Oupa Khoabane. In October the following year, Magashule announced a wide-ranging reshuffle, occasioned by the departure of Mlamleli, who had been elected Mayor of Mangaung in the local government elections in August; Limakatso Mahasa was the only new appointment made, although the reshuffle affected five portfolios.

Ntombela premiership

First term: 2018–2019

Sisi Ntombela was sworn in as Premier in March 2018; she succeeded

, who had resigned to take up the position of ANC Secretary-General. Although she initially retained all of Magashule's MECs, she announced a reshuffle on 9 May 2018. Five portfolios were affected, but no MECs were fired; indeed, because Ntombela's promotion had left a vacancy in the Executive Council, one new MEC, Montseng Tsiu, was appointed. In the same reshuffle, responsibility for human settlements was transferred from the cooperative governance and traditional affairs portfolio to Dorah Coetzee's public works and infrastructure portfolio.

Second term: 2019–2023

Ntombela was elected to a full term as Premier in the 2019 general election and she announced her new Executive Council in late May. On 1 October 2021, she announced a reshuffle affecting three portfolios, in which Sam Mashinini was fired. She resigned as premier in February 2023.

Dukwana premiership: 2023–2024

On 14 March 2023, Dukwana appointed his Executive Council.

Lesotha-Mathae premiership: 2024–present

Following the 2024 provincial election, Dukwana was replaced as premier with

. She announced her executive council on 20 June 2024. {, class="wikitable" , +Free State Executive Council 2024–present !Post !Member ! colspan="2" , Term !Party , - ,

, 2024 , ''Incumbent'' , ANC , - , MEC for Finance, Tourism and Economic Development , Ketso Makume , 2024 , ''Incumbent'' , ANC , - , MEC for Public Works and Infrastructure , Mathabo Leeto , 2024 , ''Incumbent'' , ANC , - , MEC for Social Development , Mathabo Leeto , 2024 , ''Incumbent'' , ANC , - , MEC for Education , Mantlhake Maboya , 2024 , ''Incumbent'' , ANC , - , MEC for Health , Monyatso Mahlatsi , 2024 , ''Incumbent'' , ANC , - , MEC for Agriculture, Rural Development and Environmental Affairs , Elzabe Rockman , 2024 , ''Incumbent'' , ANC , - , MEC for Community Safety, Roads and Transport , Jabu Mbalula , 2024 , ''Incumbent'' , ANC , - , MEC for Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs and Human Settlements , Saki Mokoena , 2024 , ''Incumbent'' , ANC , - , MEC for Sports, Arts, Culture and Recreation , Zanele Sifuba , 2024 , ''Incumbent'' , ANC

References

Government of the Free State (province)