Leon Jooste (born 18 February 1969 in

Grootfontein Grootfontein (, named after the nearby hot springs) is a city with 26,839 inhabitants in the Otjozondjupa Region of central Namibia. It is one of the three towns in the Otavi Triangle, situated on the B8 road (Namibia), B8 national road that lead ...

Otjozondjupa Region Otjozondjupa is one of the fourteen regions of Namibia. Its capital is Otjiwarongo. The region further contains the municipalities of Okahandja and Grootfontein and the towns Okakarara and Otavi. , Otjozondjupa had 97,945 registered voters. Geogr ...

) is a

Namibia Namibia, officially the Republic of Namibia, is a country on the west coast of Southern Africa. Its borders include the Atlantic Ocean to the west, Angola and Zambia to the north, Botswana to the east and South Africa to the south; in the no ...

n politician and businessperson who served as Minister of Public Enterprises until 1 December 2022.

Education and early life

Jooste attended school at Paul Roos Gymnasium in

Stellenbosch Stellenbosch (; )A Universal Pronouncing Gazetteer.
Thomas Baldwin ...

and at Abbott's College 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 ...

, both

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 ...

. In 1991 he graduated from

Stellenbosch University Stellenbosch University (SU) (, ) is a public research university situated in Stellenbosch, a town in the Western Cape province of South Africa. Stellenbosch is the oldest university in South Africa and the oldest extant university in Sub-Sahara ...

with a BA in

archaeology Archaeology or archeology is the study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture. The archaeological record consists of Artifact (archaeology), artifacts, architecture, biofact (archaeology), biofacts or ecofacts, ...

and

anthropology Anthropology is the scientific study of humanity, concerned with human behavior, human biology, cultures, society, societies, and linguistics, in both the present and past, including archaic humans. Social anthropology studies patterns of behav ...

. He is a professional helicopter pilot since 1993, and upon his return to Namibia became managing director of ''Eden Wildlife Trust'', a tourism enterprise near Grootfontein.

Political career

A member of

SWAPO The South West Africa People's Organisation (SWAPO ; , SWAVO; , SWAVO), officially known as the SWAPO Party of Namibia, is a political party and former independence movement in Namibia (formerly South West Africa). Founded in 1960, it has been ...

, Jooste was appointed to replace Gerhard Tötemeyer in the

National Assembly of Namibia The National Assembly is the lower chamber of Namibia's bicameral Parliament. Its laws must be approved by the National Council, the upper house. Since 2014, it has a total of 104 members. 96 members are directly elected through a system of cl ...

in 2004. He had not been placed high enough on the SWAPO Party list in the 2004 general election to directly enter Parliament after the election. Jooste was appointed Deputy Minister for Local and Regional Government the same year. In 2005, he was shifted to the Environment and Tourism portfolio in

Hifikepunye Pohamba Hifikepunye Lucas Pohamba (born 18 August 1935) is a Namibian politician who served as the second president of Namibia from 21 March 2005 to 21 March 2015. He won the 2004 Namibian presidential election, 2004 presidential election overwhelming ...

's first cabinet, again as deputy minister. Jooste resigned in late 2009 in order to take over the family business in Cape Town after the death of his father. Under president

Hage Geingob Hage Gottfried Geingob (3 August 1941 – 4 February 2024) was a Namibian politician who served as the third president of Namibia from 2015 until his death in February 2024. Geingob was the country's first prime minister A prime minister ...

, Jooste was appointed as Minister of Public Enterprises in March 2015. Decisions under his reign were often controversial and unpopular and included the closures of state-owned Air Namibia and the

Road Contractor's Company A road is a thoroughfare used primarily for movement of traffic. Roads differ from streets, whose primary use is local access. They also differ from stroads, which combine the features of streets and roads. Most modern roads are paved. The w ...

. In 2021 he suggested that the ministry he heads should be downgraded to a department within the Ministry of Finance, effectively abolishing his own ministerial position. Jooste resigned as member of Parliament and cabinet minister on 31 March 2022. He had served in Parliament from 2004 to 2006, from 2015 till 2020, and from 2020 till 2022. He was replaced by Ephraim Nekongo (

), effectively on 9 May 2022.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Jooste, Leon 1969 births Government ministers of Namibia Living people Members of the National Assembly (Namibia) People from Grootfontein Politicians from Otjozondjupa Region Stellenbosch University alumni SWAPO politicians White Namibian people Alumni of Paul Roos Gymnasium