Nokwanje Selina "Mathabo" Leeto (born 29 November 1960) is a South African politician who was elected to 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 ...

in the 2014 general election. She was appointed as the

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 Sports, Arts, Culture and Recreation. Leeto left the provincial legislature at the 2019 general election. She was elected provincial treasurer 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 ...

in January 2023 and returned to the Provincial Legislature in March 2023. She was then appointed as the MEC for Health. Following the 2024 general election, Leeto took over as the MEC for Social Development.

Background

Leeto served as a ward councillor for the

and as a member of the National Executive Committee of the women's league. She was the mayor of the Matjhabeng Local Municipality, before becoming the mayor of the

Lejweleputswa District Municipality The Lejweleputswa District Municipality (; ; ) is one of the 5 districts of the Free State province of South Africa. The seat of the municipality is Welkom. As of 2011, a majority of its 657,019 residents speak Sotho. The district code is DC18. ...

in 2011. After her swearing-in as district mayor, it was revealed that the municipality spent R640 000 on her inauguration ceremony instead of extending a job-creation programme. In June 2012, Leeto was elected as chairperson of the ANC's Lejweleputswa Region.

Free State provincial government

MEC for Sports, Arts, Culture and Recreation: 2014–2019

Leeto was elected to the

in the 2014 general election as the ANC won 22 seats in the legislature. She was then appointed by premier

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 ...

to the Executive Council of the Free State as the

(MEC) for Sports, Arts, Culture and Recreation, succeeding Dan Kgothule who was not re-elected to the provincial legislature. She remained as MEC for Sports, Arts, Culture and Recreation following Sisi Ntombela's election as Premier of the Free State. In early-March 2019, Leeto was elected president of the South African National Civic Organisation (Sanco). The following month, Sanco accused Magashule of moving Leeto down the ANC's national party list to prevent her from joining

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 ...

following the May 8, 2019 general elections. Leeto was not elected to parliament and left the provincial legislature.

MEC for Health: 2023–2024

Leeto was sworn in as a Member of the Free State Provincial Legislature on 13 March 2023. The following day, newly elected premier

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 ...

announced his Executive Council which saw Leeto replace Montseng Tsiu as MEC for Health.

MEC for Social Development: 2024

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

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) ...

. Lesotha-Mathae named Leeto as the new MEC for Social Development.

In the provincial ANC

After Magashule was elected Secretary-General of the

, a position which required that he must resign as ANC provincial chairperson, in December 2017, Leeto and the MEC for Police‚ Roads and Transport Sam Mashinini were seen as favourites to succeed Magashule as the ANC provincial chairperson in the Free State. Leeto was accused of being a Magashule loyalist, which she has subsequently refuted. Mashinini was elected provincial chairperson at the party's conference in May 2018.

Provincial treasurer of the ANC

Leeto was elected as the provincial treasurer of the ANC at the party's elective conference in January 2023, defeating staunch Magashule supporter Vusi Tshabalala.

Controversies

Tenure as Matjhabeng mayor

Leeto and Health MEC Benny Malakoane appeared in the Welkom Regional Court on 1 August 2014 on fraud and corruption charges relating to Malakoane's tenure as Matjhabeng municipal manager while Leeto served as the municipality's mayor; the case was transferred to the Bloemfontein Regional Court. Their trial officially began in November 2015. Leeto was acquitted on more than 200 charges of fraud, corruption, money laundering and accepting bribes dating back to her tenure as Matjhabeng mayor on 4 November 2016 after she wrote to the

National Prosecuting Authority The National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) is the agency of the South African Government responsible for state prosecutions. Under Section 179 of the South African Constitution and the National Prosecuting Authority Act of 1998, which establi ...

requesting them to review all the charges against her. Leeto and Bloem Water CEO Limakatso Moorosi were arrested by The Hawks for fraud and corruption on 16 February 2018 dating back to her tenure as Matjhabeng mayor. She had allegedly awarded a tender worth millions of rands for the procurement and installation of telephone systems, CCTV cameras, photocopy machines without following the correct tender procedures as stipulated by law and she and Moorosi reportedly received kickbacks; the NPA later withdrew the charges due to the low chances of success.

Comments during Women's Day debate

During a debate in the legislature on Women's Day in the legislature in August 2018, Leeto was accused of saying that when Dutch navigator

Jan van Riebeeck Johan Anthoniszoon "Jan" van Riebeeck (21 April 1619 – 18 January 1677) was a Dutch navigator, ambassador and colonial administrator of the Dutch East India Company. Life Early life Jan van Riebeeck was born in Culemborg on 21 April ...

arrived in the

Cape A cape is a clothing accessory or a sleeveless outer garment of any length that hangs loosely and connects either at the neck or shoulders. They usually cover the back, shoulders, and arms. They come in a variety of styles and have been used th ...

was when all the trouble started in South Africa and that all white men are rapists and they should be exhumed from their graves to account. She had earlier been accused of calling the DA leader in the legislature Roy Jankielsohn "a piece of

faeces Feces (also known as faeces American and British English spelling differences#ae and oe, or fæces; : faex) are the solid or semi-solid remains of food that was not digested in the small intestine, and has been broken down by bacteria in the ...

"; she denied this and said that the translator misheard her when she was speaking

Sesotho Sotho (), also known as ''Sesotho'' (), Southern Sotho, or ''Sesotho sa Borwa'' is a Southern Bantu languages, Southern Bantu language spoken in Lesotho as its national language and South Africa where it is an official language. Like all Ba ...

. Afrikaner lobby group

AfriForum AfriForum is a South African non-governmental organisation which mainly focuses on the interests of Afrikaners, a subgroup of the country's white population. AfriForum has been described as a "white nationalist, alt-right, and Afrikaner nation ...

subsequently called for her dismissal. Leeto denied making the comments and said that she was not a racist person.

Personal life

Leeto is a resident of Odendaalsrus.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Leeto, Mathabo Living people Sotho people African National Congress politicians Members of the Free State Provincial Legislature Women members of provincial legislatures of South Africa 1960 births