Makhotso Magdeline "Maggie" Sotyu (born 28 May 1957) is a South African politician who is currently serving as Deputy Minister of Environment, Forestry and Fisheries since May 2019. She has been a deputy minister since 2010, formerly as Deputy Minister of Arts and Culture and Deputy Minister of Police, and has represented 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 ...

in 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 ...

since June 1999. Sotyu was elected to the National Assembly in the 1999 general election, where she represented the Free State constituency until she was included on the national party list in 2019. Under the

cabinet Cabinet or The Cabinet may refer to: Furniture * Cabinetry, a box-shaped piece of furniture with doors and/or drawers * Display cabinet, a piece of furniture with one or more transparent glass sheets or transparent polycarbonate sheets * Filin ...

of 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 ...

, she served as Deputy Minister of Police from November 2010 to March 2017 and then as Deputy Minister of Arts and Culture from March 2017 to May 2019. 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 her to her current position after the 2019 general election.

Education and early career

Born on 28 May 1957, Sotyu matriculated at St Matthews High School in

Keiskammahoek Keiskammahoek (also spelled Keiskamahoek) is a town in the Eastern Cape Province, South Africa. From 1981 until the end of apartheid, the town was part of the Ciskei bantustan. Geography Keiskammahoek is a small rural town that is situated some ...

. She later earned tertiary certificates 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 ...

and

University of Dar es Salaam The University of Dar es Salaam (UDSM) (Swahili: ''Chuo Kikuu cha Dar es Salaam'') is a public university located in Ubungo District, Dar es Salaam Region, Tanzania. It was established in 1961 as an affiliate college of the University of London. ...

. She began her political career through the

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 ...

-era

trade union movement The labour movement is the collective organisation of working people to further their shared political and economic interests. It consists of the trade union or labour union movement, as well as political parties of labour. It can be considere ...

while working in a factory in

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

. In the 1980s, living in Phelindaba, she was the regional secretary of the Bloemfontein branch of the

South African National Civics Organisation The South African National Civics Organisation or South African National Civic Organisation (SANCO) is an umbrella political organisation in South Africa. It was founded in March 1992 to coordinate among existing civic organisations, which had be ...

. After the

(ANC) was unbanned in 1990, she joined the party, ultimately gaining election to the Provincial Executive Committees of the ANC and

ANC Women's League The African National Congress Women's League (ANCWL) is an auxiliary women's political organization of the African National Congress (ANC) of South Africa. This organization has its precedent in the Bantu Women's League, and it oscillated from ...

in the Free State.

National Assembly: 1999–2010

In the 1999 general election, Sotyu was elected to the

, the lower house of the

South African Parliament The Parliament of the Republic of South Africa is South Africa's legislature. It is located in Cape Town; the country's legislative capital. Under the present Constitution of South Africa, the bicameral Parliament comprises a National Asse ...

. She represented the ANC in the Free State constituency. Over the next two decades, she was elected to four further consecutive terms in the assembly; she continued to represent the Free State until

2019 This was the year in which the first known human case of COVID-19 was documented, preceding COVID-19 pandemic, the pandemic which was declared by the World Health Organization the following year. Up to that point, 2019 had been described as ...

, when she was listed on the ANC's national party list, ranked 81st. After the 2004 general election, the ANC announced that it would nominate Sotyu to succeed

Mluleki George Mluleki Editor George (2 February 1948 – 5 January 2021) was a South African activist, politician and sports administrator. He served as a Deputy Minister of Defence from 2004 to 2008. Political career George joined the banned African Natio ...

as the chairperson of the Portfolio Committee on Safety and Security. In that capacity, in 2008, Sotyu played a central role in Parliament's processing of the ANC's decision to disband the

Scorpions Scorpions are predatory arachnids of the Order (biology), order Scorpiones. They have eight legs and are easily recognized by a pair of Chela (organ), grasping pincers and a narrow, segmented tail, often carried in a characteristic forward cur ...

. After the next general election in 2009, she was nominated to chair the Portfolio Committee on Water and Environmental Affairs.

Deputy Minister: 2010–present

On 31 October 2010, Sotyu was appointed as Deputy Minister of Police in a reshuffle by President

. She replaced

Fikile Mbalula Fikile April Mbalula (born 8 April 1971) is a South African politician and current Secretary-General of the African National Congress (ANC) since December 2022. He was a cabinet minister between 2010 and 2023, most proximately as Minister of Tr ...

, who had been promoted to Zuma's cabinet, and deputised

Nathi Mthethwa Emmanuel Nkosinathi Mthethwa (born 23 January 1967) is a South African politician who is currently serving as South African Ambassador to France. He represented the African National Congress (ANC) in the National Assembly of South Africa betwee ...

. Johnny de Lange took over her post as chair of the Portfolio Committee on Water and Environmental Affairs. Soon after she took office in the police ministry, Sotyu was criticised by interest groups when the ''

Beeld ''Beeld'' (freely translated as ''Picture'' or ''Image'') is an Afrikaans-language daily newspaper that was launched on 16 September 1974. ''Beeld'' is distributed in four provinces of South Africa: Gauteng, Mpumalanga, Limpopo and North West, ...

'' quoted her as commenting on a recent criminal case by opining that South African courts were

racist Racism is the belief that groups of humans possess different behavioral traits corresponding to inherited attributes and can be divided based on the superiority of one Race (human categorization), race or ethnicity over another. It may also me ...

and handed down harsher penalties to black criminals than to white criminals. The

Freedom Front Plus The Freedom Front Plus (FF Plus or FF+; , ''VF Plus'') is a right-wing political party in South Africa that was formed (as the Freedom Front) in 1994. It is led by Corné Mulder. Since 2024, it is a part of the current South African Third Cabin ...

accused her of creating "racial tension" and the Transvaal Agriculture Union of South Africa accused her of creating "an environment where whites are given an unfair sense of guilt and where whites will become victims of hateful racist elements. This can lead to violence against whites, which can include farm attacks." Agri SA regretted that she had "played the

race card "Playing the race card" is an idiomatic phrase that refers to the exploitation by someone of either racist or anti-racist attitudes in the audience in order to gain an advantage. It constitutes an accusation of bad faith directed at the person o ...

" so soon after her appointment. Sotyu served in the police ministry for six-and-a-half years. In the early hours of 31 March 2017, Zuma reshuffled his second-term cabinet, appointing Sotyu to serve as Deputy Minister of Arts and Culture under Minister

. She remained in that position after

replaced Zuma as president in February 2018 and appointed a new cabinet. After the 2019 general election, Ramaphosa appointed to Sotyu to serve as Deputy Minister of Environment, Forestry and Fisheries, a newly created portfolio; she deputises

Barbara Creecy Barbara Dallas Creecy (born 17 June 1958) is a South Africa, South African politician and former Internal resistance to apartheid, anti-apartheid activist who has been the Minister of Transport since July 2024. She was formerly the Minister of E ...

under Ramaphosa's second cabinet.

Personal life

Sotyu's daughter, Boniwe Sotyu, worked at the Independent Police Investigative Directorate (IPID) and its predecessor, the Independent Complaints Directorate. In 2015, she was appointed as deputy director of investigations in IPID's Free State office, an appointment which made national headlines because Sotyu was Deputy Minister of Police at the time.

References

External links

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Ms Makhotso Magdeline Sotyu
at Parliament of South Africa {{DEFAULTSORT:Sotyu, Maggie Living people 1957 births African National Congress politicians 21st-century South African women politicians Members of the National Assembly of South Africa 2004–2009 Members of the National Assembly of South Africa 2009–2014 Members of the National Assembly of South Africa 2014–2019 Members of the National Assembly of South Africa 2019–2024 Members of the National Assembly of South Africa 2024–2029 Women members of the National Assembly of South Africa 20th-century South African women politicians Members of the National Assembly of South Africa 1999–2004