Stefanus "Steve" Orateng Mogotsi (born 26 December 1961) 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 former

featherweight Featherweight is a weight class in the combat sports of boxing, kickboxing, mixed martial arts, and Greco-Roman wrestling. Boxing Professional boxing History A featherweight boxer weighs in at a limit of . In the early days of the division, ...

boxer. 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 ...

he contested

Kalahari Constituency Kalahari Constituency (until 1998 Buitepos Constituency) is an electoral constituency in the Omaheke Region of eastern central Namibia. It had 5,294 registered voters . The constituency covers an area of . It had a population of 7,611 in 2011 ...

in his native

Omaheke Region Omaheke (the Otjiherero word for sandveld) is one of the fourteen regions of Namibia, the least populous region. Its capital is Gobabis. It lies in eastern Namibia on the border with Botswana and is the western extension of the Kalahari Desert ...

in regional elections since 1998. In the 2004 regional elections he won and became councillor, and he also was elected to represent Omaheke in the

National Council of Namibia The National Council is the upper chamber of Namibia's bicameral Parliament. It reviews bills passed by the lower chamber and makes recommendations for legislation of regional concern to the lower chamber. The 42 National Council members are i ...

. In 2005 Mogotsi became the first ethnic

Tswana Tswana may refer to: * Tswana people, the Bantu languages, Bantu speaking people in Botswana, South Africa, Namibia, Zimbabwe, Zambia, and other Southern Africa regions * Tswana language, the language spoken by the (Ba)Tswana people * Tswanaland, ...

to serve in the

Cabinet of Namibia The Cabinet of Namibia is an appointed body that was established by Chapter 6 (Articles 35-42) of the Constitution of Namibia. It is mandated to include: the President of Namibia, the Prime Minister of Namibia and any positions that the Presiden ...

when he was appointed deputy minister of Public Works, Transport and Communication in 2005.

Early life and education

Mogotsi was born in

Aminuis Aminuis is a cluster of small settlements in the remote eastern part of the Omaheke Region of Namibia, located about 500 km east of Windhoek. It is the district capital of the Aminuis electoral constituency. Economy and Infrastructure Ami ...

. He joined SWAPO in 1978, while studying at St Joseph's Roman Catholic High School in Döbra. From 1979 to 1987 he worked for

South African Railways Transnet Freight Rail is a Rail transport in South Africa, South African rail transport company, formerly known as Spoornet. It was part of the South African Railways and Harbours Administration, a state-controlled organisation that employed h ...

Windhoek Windhoek (; ; ) is the capital and largest city of Namibia. It is located in central Namibia in the Khomas Highland plateau area, at around above sea level, almost exactly at the country's geographical centre. The population of Windhoek, which ...

before taking up work for Consolidated Diamond Mines (CDM) in

Oranjemund Oranjemund (Dutch for ''"Mouth of Orange"'') is a diamond mining town in the ǁKaras Region of the extreme southwest of Namibia, on the northern bank of the Orange River mouth at the border with South Africa. It had a population of 7,736 peopl ...

ǁKaras Region The ǁKharas Region (pronounced , with a lateral click, former name Karas Region, without the click) is the southernmost, largest, and least densely populated of the 14 regions of Namibia; its capital is Keetmanshoop. The name assigned to the r ...

.Steve Mogotsi
at Namibia Institute for Democracy At CDM Mogotsi became involved in politics. He became the shop steward for the

Mineworkers Union of Namibia The Mineworkers Union of Namibia (MUN) is one of the most powerful of Namibia's trade unions. It plays a leading public role in the Namibian political space and is an ally of the ruling South West Africa People's Organization (SWAPO) government. T ...

. In 1994, Mogotsi moved permanently back to Omaheke Region, the region of his birth, to become a full-time commercial farmer and building contractor.

Political career

In 1998, Mogotsi contested the

, but lost to the

Democratic Turnhalle Alliance The Popular Democratic Movement (PDM), formerly Democratic Turnhalle Alliance (DTA), is an amalgamation of political parties in Namibia, registered as one singular party for representation purposes. In coalition with the United Democratic Front ...

(DTA) candidate. Six years later, in the 2004 regional elections, Mogotsi won the seat with 1,825 of the 2,989 votes cast. Mogotsi was subsequently elected to the

3rd National Council of Namibia Members of the 3rd National Council of Namibia, which lasts from 2004 - 2009. The chairperson is Asser Kuveri Kapere of the South West Africa People's Organization. 24 of the 26 members of the National Council are members of SWAPO, while one is fr ...

. In 2005, he was selected to the cabinet of

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 ...

as deputy minister of Public Works, Transport and Communication following the resignation of

Paulus Kapia Paulus Kapia (born 18 September 1967 in Ehafo, Oshana Region) is a Namibian politician. A member of SWAPO, Kapia was first elected to the National Assembly of Namibia in 2005. He was appointed to the politburo of SWAPO and served for a short time ...

. With this appointment Mogotsi became the first ethnic

to serve in any Namibian cabinet.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mogotsi, Steve 1961 births Living people People from Omaheke Region Tswana people SWAPO politicians Government ministers of Namibia Members of the National Council (Namibia) Namibian businesspeople Featherweight boxers Namibian male boxers