Tebogo Job Mokgoro (born 15 May 1948) 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 and academic who served as the 6th

Premier of North West The premier of North West is the head of government of the North West (South African province), North West province of South Africa. The current premier of the North West is Lazzy Mokgosi, a member of the African National Congress, who was elec ...

from June 2018 until his resignation in August 2021. He was a Member of the

North West Provincial Legislature The North West Provincial Legislature is the primary legislative body of the South African province of North West. It is unicameral in its composition, and elects the premier and the provincial cabinet from among the members of the leading party ...

during that time. He is a party 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 ...

Early life, education and family

Job Mokgoro was born on 15 May 1948 in

Kimberley Kimberly or Kimberley may refer to: Places and historical events Australia Queensland * Kimberley, Queensland, a coastal locality in the Shire of Douglas South Australia * County of Kimberley, a cadastral unit in South Australia Ta ...

in the

Cape Province The Province of the Cape of Good Hope (), commonly referred to as the Cape Province () and colloquially as The Cape (), was a province in the Union of South Africa and subsequently the Republic of South Africa. It encompassed the old Cape Co ...

of the

Union of South Africa The Union of South Africa (; , ) was the historical predecessor to the present-day South Africa, Republic of South Africa. It came into existence on 31 May 1910 with the unification of the British Cape Colony, Cape, Colony of Natal, Natal, Tra ...

. He obtained multiple administrative and academic accolades including a master's degree and a Honorary Doctorate in Public Administration from the

University of Toledo The University of Toledo (UToledo or UT) is a Public university, public research university in Toledo, Ohio, United States. It is the northernmost campus of the University System of Ohio. The university also operates a Health Science campus, ...

Career

After studying in the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

, Mokgoro became a lecturer at the University of Bophuthatswana. Before the 1994 election, he was one of the administrators of the

Transitional Executive Council The Transitional Executive Council (TEC) was a multiparty body in South Africa that was established by law to facilitate the transition to democracy, in the lead-up to the country's South African general election, 1994, first non-racial election ...

that were tasked to incorporate the traditional homelands, such as

Bophuthatswana Bophuthatswana (, ), officially the Republic of Bophuthatswana (; ), and colloquially referred to as the Bop and by outsiders as Jigsawland (In reference to its enclave-ridden borders) was a Bantustan (also known as "Homeland", an area set asid ...

, into the new nine provinces. In 1994, Premier

Popo Molefe Popo Simon Molefe OLS (born 26 April 1952) is a businessman and former politician from South Africa. Early life One of eight children, Molefe was the son of a laborer and a domestic worker, though he was raised largely by one of his aunts, San ...

appointed Mokgoro as the Director-General of the North West Province. Molefe tasked Mokgoro with rationalising and integrating three government administrations into the province. During his tenure as Director-General, he was regarded as a disciplinarian, due to him patrolling the provincial government offices to make sure that no employee was leaving early on Friday afternoons. In 2014, Premier

Supra Mahumapelo Supra Obakeng Ramoeletsi Mahumapelo (born 7 June 1968) is a South African politician and singer who was Premier of North West from May 2014 to May 2018 during the 5th North West Provincial Legislature. He formerly served as Speaker of the North ...

reappointed Mokgoro as Director-General. Mokgoro also served as the Director-General of the South African Management Development Institute. He taught at the Wits University's Graduate School of Public and Development Management. He was also a policy analyst for the Development Bank of Southern Africa (DBSA). His most recent position was principal of the National School of Governance.

North West Premiership

On 21 June 2018, the ANC Secretary-General,

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 ...

, announced Mokgoro as the new Premier of North West after the National Working Committee (NWC) of the

selected him. His predecessor,

, resigned in May 2018 after weeks of violent protests. Mokgoro was reportedly seen as a compromise candidate since the process of selecting a candidate was complicated. The

elected Mokgoro as Premier on 22 June 2018. After the 2019 general elections, speculations arose that Mokgoro was due to be replaced as Premier because of ANC factional disputes in the province. The party ended up retaining him in the post. In January 2021, Mokgoro's ANC membership was suspended by the interim provincial committee after he voted with the opposition in the provincial legislature. In April 2021 ''

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 ...

'' reported that Mokgoro had refused to abide by an instruction supported 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 ...

to resign. The IPC had asked him in March to resign but refused. On 30 June 2021, ''Mail & Guardian'' reported that the national working committee of the ANC had directed the IPC to give them the names of three people to replace Mokgoro as premier by the end of the week. On 17 August 2021, the ANC IPC officially announced former struggle veteran Bushy Maape as the ANC's candidate to replace Mokgoro as premier. Mokgoro then refused to resign as premier and as a member of the provincial legislature. He demanded an apology from the North West ANC IPC structure after they accused him of being responsible for the poor state of service delivery in the province, to which the IPC coordinator Hlomani Chauke apologised and thanked Mokgoro for his service. On 26 August 2021, Mokgoro resigned as premier of the North West Province after he met with ANC president Ramaphosa. He said he tried to root out corruption in the provincial government. Finance MEC Motlalepula Rosho was sworn in as acting premier later that day. Mokgoro resigned as an MPL the following day on 27 August.

Personal life

Mokgoro was married to

Yvonne Mokgoro Jennifer Yvonne Mokgoro GOB (19 October 1950 – 9 May 2024) was a South African jurist who served on the Constitutional Court of South Africa from October 1994 to October 2009. She also chaired the South African Law Reform Commission between 1 ...

, a former Constitutional Court judge who served from 1994 until 2009, until her death in 2024. They have five children. On 7 July 2020, Mokgoro tested positive for

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2. In January 2020, the disease spread worldwide, resulting in the COVID-19 pandemic. The symptoms of COVID‑19 can vary but often include fever ...

. He took the test after the provincial MEC for Cooperative Governance, Human Settlement and Traditional Affairs, Gordon Kegakilwe, died from complications of the virus.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Mokgoro, Job 1948 births Living people University of Toledo alumni People from Kimberley, Northern Cape Premiers of North West (South African province) African National Congress politicians Members of the North West Provincial Legislature