Solly Malatsi
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Mmoba Solomon "Solly" Malatsi (born 22 December 1985) 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 who is currently serving as Minister of Communications and Digital Technologies in the Government of National Unity (GNU) since July 2024. He has been a Member of the
National Assembly of South Africa The National Assembly is the directly elected house of the Parliament of South Africa, located in Cape Town, Western Cape. It consists of four hundred members who are elected every five years using a party-list proportional representation sy ...
since May 2014. He has served in the national leadership of the Democratic Alliance (DA) as a deputy federal chairperson since 2023. He has also been the party's national spokesperson since August 2022, previously holding the position from June 2018 to November 2020. Malatsi was also the Parliamentary Counsellor to the DA Parliamentary Leader. He has also held posts in the DA's shadow cabinet. Following the
2024 South African general election General elections were held in South Africa on 29 May 2024 to elect a new National Assembly (South Africa), National Assembly as well as the Provincial legislature (South Africa), provincial legislature in each of the Provinces of South Africa, ...
he now serves as the Minister of Communications and Digital Technologies.


Early life and education

Malatsi was born in Ga-Dikgale in the former
Transvaal Province The Province of Transvaal (), commonly referred to as the Transvaal (; ), was a province of South Africa from 1910 until 1994, when a new constitution subdivided it following the end of apartheid. The name "Transvaal" refers to the province's ...
. He matriculated from Phiri Kolobe High School and went on to obtain a Bachelor of Administration from the
University of Limpopo The University of Limpopo () is a public university in the Limpopo Province, South Africa. It was formed on 1 January 2005, by merger of the University of the North and the Medical University of South Africa (MEDUNSA). These previous institution ...
. Malatsi also achieved an Honours Degree in political studies from the
University of the Witwatersrand The University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg (), commonly known as Wits University or Wits, is a multi-campus Public university, public research university situated in the northern areas of central Johannesburg, South Africa. The universit ...
. Malatsi is a graduate of the DA's Young Leaders Programme.


Political career

Malatsi became a parliamentary researcher for the DA in 2008. He then worked as a spokesperson for the Western Cape Provincial Minister of Transport and Public Works, Robin Carlisle, from 2009 to 2011. Between 2011 and 2014, he served as the spokesperson for Cape Town Mayor
Patricia de Lille Patricia de Lille (née Lindt; born 17 February 1951) is a South African politician who is the current Minister of Tourism and leader of the political party Good. She served as Minister of Public Works and Infrastructure from 2019 to 2023. S ...
.


Parliamentary career

In May 2014, he became an MP for the DA and was appointed as Shadow Minister of Sport and Recreation. He was later appointed as Shadow Minister of Human Settlements. In June 2018, Malatsi was appointed as national spokesperson for the DA, succeeding Phumzile van Damme. He was re-elected for a second term as an MP in May 2019. He then became the party's Shadow Minister in the Presidency in June. In October 2019, he was appointed parliamentary counsellor to the newly elected DA parliamentary leader,
John Steenhuisen John Henry Steenhuisen ( ; born 25 March 1976) is a South African politician who is currently serving as Minister of Agriculture (South Africa), Minister of Agriculture since July 2024. He has been the leader of the Democratic Alliance (South Af ...
. On 24 November 2020, Malatsi stepped down as the DA's national spokesperson. Malatsi was reappointed to the shadow cabinet as Shadow Minister in the Presidency in the following days. In the 2020 Register of Members’ Interests, Malatsi revealed that he had received remuneration from the
Foschini Group TFG Limited (commonly known as TFG and formerly The Foschini Group), is a South African retail clothing group, which trades under various brands, and has more than 3,000 stores within its portfolio. It is headquartered in Cape Town. In 2015, t ...
for a sports
photo shoot A photo shoot is the process taken by creatives and models that results in a visual objective being obtained. An example is a model posing for a photographer at a studio or an outdoor location. A photo shoot is a series of images that are taken, ...
. On 18 August 2022, Malatsi was appointed as the DA's national spokesperson, succeeding
Siviwe Gwarube Siviwe Gwarube (born 14 July 1989) is a South African politician who is currently serving as Minister of Basic Education in the Third Cabinet of Cyril Ramaphosa, Government of National Unity (GNU) since July 2024. A member of the Democratic All ...
, who became the new chief whip of the DA's parliamentary caucus. Malatsi was elected as one of three deputy federal chairpersons of the DA at the party's Federal Congress in 2023.


National government

In July 2024, Malatsi was sworn in as the Minister of Communications and Digital Technologies. In November 2024, Malatsi withdrew the South African Broadcasting Corporation SOC Ltd Bill (B32-2023), widely known as the SABC Bill, citing concerns that it does not address the public broadcaster's funding model and that it grants the Minister of Communications and Digital Technologies excessive influence over board appointments. The chairperson of the Portfolio Committee on Communications and Digital Technologies in the National Assembly, Khusela Diko, criticised Malatsi's decision, describing it as a potential "death knell" for the SABC.


References


External links


Mr Solly Malatsi – People's AssemblyMr Mmoba Solomon Malatsi – Parliament of South Africa
{{DEFAULTSORT:Malatsi, Solly Living people 1985 births Members of the National Assembly of South Africa 2024–2029 Democratic Alliance (South Africa) politicians Politicians from Limpopo University of Limpopo alumni University of the Witwatersrand alumni Members of the National Assembly of South Africa 2019–2024 Members of the National Assembly of South Africa 2014–2019