Baleka Mbete | |||||||||||||||||||||||
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 Mbete in 2016 | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| 5th Deputy President of South Africa | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| In office 25 September 2008 – 9 May 2009 | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| President | Kgalema Motlanthe | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Preceded by | Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Succeeded by | Kgalema Motlanthe | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2nd and 5th Speaker of the National Assembly of South Africa | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| In office 21 May 2014 – 21 May 2019 | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| President | Jacob Zuma Cyril Ramaphosa | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Deputy | Lechesa Tsenoli | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Preceded by | Max Sisulu | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Succeeded by | Thandi Modise | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| In office 12 July 2004 – 25 September 2008 | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| President | Thabo Mbeki | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Deputy | Gwen Mahlangu-Nkabinde | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Preceded by | Frene Ginwala | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Succeeded by | Gwen Mahlangu-Nkabinde | ||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Personal details | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Born | (1949-09-24)24 September 1949 (age 76) | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Political party | African National Congress | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Spouses | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Education | Inanda Seminary School Lovedale Teachers' College | ||||||||||||||||||||||
Baleka Mbete (born 24 September 1949) is a South African politician who was theDeputy President of South Africa from September 2008 to May 2009. She was also theSpeaker of the National Assembly for two non-consecutive terms from 2004 to 2008 and from 2014 to 2019. She also served as Deputy Speaker between 1996 and 2004.[1] A member of theAfrican National Congress (ANC), she was first elected to theNational Assembly in 1994 and stepped down from her seat in 2019.
Born inKwaZulu-Natal, Mbete is a teacher by training and a formeranti-apartheid activist, initially through theBlack Consciousness Movement. Between 1976 and 1990, she was stationed with the ANC in exile outside South Africa; during this period, she was also a prominent cultural activist as a poet and the head of theMedu Art Ensemble. Upon her return to South Africa, she represented the ANC at thenegotiations to end apartheid and was a central figure in the relaunch of theANC Women's League, serving as the league's secretary-general from 1991 to 1993.
Mbete was elected to the National Assembly in thefirst post-apartheid elections in 1994 and served in her seat until 2019, with the exception of a hiatus from 2009 to 2014. Her rise through the institution began in 1996, when she was elected as Deputy Speaker, and continued during thethird democratic Parliament, when she succeededFrene Ginwala as the second Speaker. In the last year of the third Parliament, she ascended to the Deputy Presidency during the reshuffle occasioned by the resignation of PresidentThabo Mbeki in September 2008; she held the office during the brief term of Mbeki's successor, PresidentKgalema Motlanthe.
Although she declined to return to Parliament after the2009 general election, Mbete returned in May 2014 in her former office as Speaker of the National Assembly. She left her parliamentary seat again after the2019 general election, though she remained active in the ANC Women's League.
A member of the ANC since 1976, Mbete served as the party's National Chairperson from December 2007 to December 2017 duringJacob Zuma's presidency. She was a member of the ANCNational Executive Committee from 1994 to 2022.
Mbete was born on 24 September 1949 to aHlubi family[2] inClermont, atownship inDurban in the formerNatal Province.[3] She spent part of her childhood with her grandmother in theNorthern Transvaal, where she attended pre-school.[3] In 1958,[4] her family moved to theCape Province so that her father could take up work as a librarian atFort Hare University. He later lost his job because of his affiliation with theSouth African Communist Party.[3] Her mother was a nurse, and she was the second child and eldest daughter in the family.[5]
After matriculating from theInanda Seminary in 1968,[6] Mbete enrolled in Eshowe Training College inEshowe and later – after she was expelled from Eshowe – in the teaching college atLovedale inAlice.[3] She qualified as a teacher in 1973 and returned to Durban to teach at a high school inKwaMashu.[4][6]
While teaching in Natal, Mbete became involved in theBlack Consciousness Movement, which at the time was ascendant in thestruggle against apartheid. In early 1976, Mbete and her brother were detained for their political activism.[3] Upon her release, she went into exile, leaving South Africa forSwaziland on 10 April 1976.[3][4]
In exile, Mbete joined the anti-apartheidAfrican National Congress (ANC). She also taught at a high school inMbabane, Swaziland until 1977, when she moved toDar es Salaam, Tanzania.[6] In Dar es Salaam, she pursued her ANC work with earnest, joining the party's Department of Information and Publicity – specifically, she worked onRadio Freedom – as well as its Women's Section, the department that substituted for the then-defunctANC Women's League. Mbete was regional secretary for the Women's Section in Tanzania from 1978 to 1981.[6]
From 1981 to 1983, she was an ANC public relations officer inNairobi, Kenya,[6] where her husband worked.[3] Later she took posts inGaborone, Botswana (1983 to 1986);Harare, Zimbabwe (1986 to 1987); andLusaka, Zambia (1987 to 1990).[6] In addition to her work with the Women's Section, she was involved in cultural activism and education, including as head of theMedu Art Ensemble;[3] she was also a published poet, writing under her married name, Baleka Kgositsile.[7]
Mbete returned to South Africa from exile in June 1990.[8] In subsequent years, she was a member of the ANC's delegation to thenegotiations to end apartheid.[9] In addition, the ANC Women's League was relaunched in August 1990, and Mbete served on the interim leadership corps that oversaw its re-establishment.[6] At the league's first elective conference in April 1991, held inKimberley,[10] Mbete was elected as secretary-general of the league, serving under presidentGertrude Shope.[11] She served a single term in the position: at the second elective conference in December 1993,Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula was elected to succeed her.[12]
In South Africa'sfirst post-apartheid elections in April 1994, Mbete was elected to represent the ANC in theNational Assembly – the beginning of her 25-year tenure in the lower house of theSouth African Parliament.[6] In addition, at the ANC's49th National Conference in December 1994, she was elected to her first of several terms in the ANC'sNational Executive Committee; by number of votes received, she was ranked 17th of the 60 ordinary members elected to the committee.[13]
In 1995, Mbete was appointed as chair of the ANC's parliamentary caucus and as a member of the Presidential Panel on theTruth and Reconciliation Commission.[6]
In May 1996,[14] she was promoted to deputiseFrene Ginwala asDeputy Speaker of the National Assembly; she succeededBhadra Ranchod, who was appointed as an ambassador. On 14 June 1999, afterthat year's general election, she was re-elected to a full term as Deputy Speaker; she beat the opposition candidate,Dene Smuts of theDemocratic Party, in a vote, receiving 326 votes against Smuts's 47.[15]
During this period, in April 1997, it transpired that Mbete had received an improperly issued driver's license at a testing centre inMpumalanga. Mbete was quoted as saying that she was too busy to wait in a queue for her driving test, although she later denied having said this.[5] The scandal led to a broader investigation intocorruption into the Mpumalanga traffic department and to the dismissal of aprovincial minister,[16] though Mbete was not charged with wrongdoing and maintained that she had been "caught up in a web of impropriety of which I was unaware".[17][18][19]
In the aftermath of the2004 general election, the ANC announced that it would nominate Mbete to replace Frene Ginwala asSpeaker of the National Assembly.[20] She was elected unopposed to the office on 23 April 2004, withGwen Mahlangu as her deputy.[21]
Mbete's term as Speaker coincided with theTravelgate scandal, which pertained to the abuse of parliamentary travel vouchers by politicians. TheMail & Guardian said that she was at the forefront of the ANC's "damage limitation exercise" in that regard.[22] She also publicly demonstrated support forTony Yengeni, an ANC politician who was convicted ofdefrauding Parliament in 2003;[22] she even accompanied Yengeni toPollsmoor Prison in 2006 when he reported to serve his prison sentence.[23] However, Mbete maintained that she was committed to strengthening Parliament andits committees, saying that she had an inherited "an institution that was a rubber stamp".[24] Her efforts in this regard apparently led her into conflict withZingile Dingani, the Secretary to Parliament, who sought an expanded mandate for his own office.[24][25]
In January 2006, Mbetechartered a jet, at a cost ofR471,900 (around $60,000), to attend the inauguration ofEllen Johnson Sirleaf as President of Liberia. The only other passenger on the plane was a member of her staff.[26]Ferial Haffajee criticised the expenditure as wasteful.[27]
In the middle of her term as Speaker, Mbete was nominated to stand for an ANC leadership position during the party's52nd National Conference, which was held inPolokwane in December 2007. She was initially nominated for the position of deputy secretary-general, but she withdrew from that race when she was unexpectedly nominated, from the floor of the conference, to stand for the party chairmanship;[28]Tokyo Sexwale had been nominated for the chair, but he announced that he would withdraw in Mbete's favour in order to promote "the empowerment of women".[29]
The following day, on 18 December 2007, Mbete won election to a five-year term as ANC national chairperson. Aligned to winning presidential candidateJacob Zuma,[28] she defeatedJoel Netshitenzhe – who was aligned to outgoing presidentThabo Mbeki – in a landslide, receiving 61% of the vote.[30]
On 20 September 2008, the ANC announced that it had asked Mbeki to resign asPresident of South Africa. He tendered his resignation to Mbete's office the following day.[31]
It had been speculated that Mbete would succeed Mbeki as President, which would have made her the first female head of state in South Africa's history; however, the ANC announced thatKgalema Motlanthe, Deputy President of the ANC, would assume that position. On 23 September, Mbete was announced by theSABC as the most likely candidate forDeputy President of South Africa followingPhumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka's resignation from the position.[32]
On 25 September 2008, she was appointed by Motlanthe as Deputy President.[33]
Inthe next general election in April 2009, Mbete was re-elected to her parliamentary seat but, somewhat dramatically, declined to be sworn in as a Member of Parliament on 6 May, despite being present at the inauguration.[34] Incoming President Jacob Zuma announced that Kgalema Motlanthe would replace her as Deputy President, and the ANC said that she would move toLuthuli House to pursue her party work full-time instead of returning to Parliament.[35] Mbete denied that the confusion over her swearing-in had arisen because she was holding out for reappointment as Deputy President, saying, "It was always an interim arrangement."[36]
By December 2009, theDaily Maverick observed that Mbete had "departed the public political stage" for reasons that remained mysterious to the public.[34] However, she completed her term as ANC national chairperson, and she was comfortably re-elected to a second term in that office on 18 December 2012, at the ANC's53rd National Conference; she beatThandi Modise with 76% of the vote.[37]
Mbete returned to an ANC seat in the National Assembly in the2014 general election, and the party nominated her to return to her prior office as Speaker of the National Assembly. During the assembly's first sitting on 21 May 2014, she easily defeated the opposition candidate, receiving 260 votes compared to the 88 cast forNosimo Balindlela of theDemocratic Alliance.[38]
On 10 September 2014, five opposition parties, including the Democratic Alliance andEconomic Freedom Fighters, stated that they planned to submit amotion of no confidence in Mbete, and claimed that she could not simultaneously serve as chairwoman of the ANC and as Speaker of the National Assembly. A debate held in Parliament on 16 September resulted in the motion being rejected by 234 votes to none. This was a result of opposition parties collectively walking out of the house after the ANC tried to change the vote into one of confidence in Mbete instead.[39][40]
More generally, Mbete has faced accusations, over the course of several years, that she is biased in favour of theANC and a puppet of President Zuma.[41][42][43][44][45][46][47][48] In March 2016, theConstitutional Court held, inEconomic Freedom Fighters v Speaker of the National Assembly, that the National Assembly under Mbete's stewardship had breached theSouth African Constitution by undermining rather than implementing thePublic Protector'sNkandla report.
In the run-up to the ANC's54th National Conference, which would elect Zuma's successor as ANC president, Mbete identified herself as a presidential contender as early as April 2016.[49][50] The ANC Women's League endorsed another candidate –Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma – and Mbete was not viewed as a frontrunner, but she continued to campaign, under the banner #BM17, until the conference was held in December 2017.[51][52] On the first night of the conference, however, Mbete endorsedCyril Ramaphosa – Dlamini-Zuma's main rival – for the presidency.[53] It was reported that she supported Ramaphosa because she was disappointed that Zuma had not supported her campaign.[54]
Mbete did not run for re-election as national chairperson at the conference and did not appear on the ballot paper for any top leadership position, but she was re-elected to the National Executive Committee.[55] In the assessment of theMail & Guardian, Mbete's influence in the party declined after her failed presidential campaign.[56]
Ahead of the2019 general election, Mbete told theSowetan that she did not know "what's coming in the next couple of months".[57] When the election was held in May, she was re-elected to her parliamentary seat, but, on 20 May, the ANC announced that it would nominate Thandi Modise, the outgoing head of theNational Council of Provinces, to succeed Mbete as Speaker.[58] The following day, the ANC confirmed rumours that Mbete had withdrawn her name from the party list, meaning that she would not return to her parliamentary seat.[59]
In March 2022, Mbete toldRadio 702 that she was "done with politics".[60] However, two months later, she was appointed as the interim convener of the ANC Women's League after the league's incumbent leadership was disbanded by the National Executive Committee. In that capacity she led the league, with interim coordinatorMaropene Ramokgopa, until a new leadership corps was elected.[61][62] At the mainstream ANC's55th National Conference in December 2022, she was not re-elected to the National Executive Committee, losing her seat for the first time since 1994.[63]
Mbete's links to business have been questioned. She and provincial secretary of the ANC in theNorthern Cape Dr K M Seimelo are shareholders in Dyambu Holdings,[64] which is involved in building the massiveGautrain public transport project in the province ofGauteng. Dyambu Holdings is reported to have had links with slain magnateBrett Kebble.[65] In 2010, she was implicated in a R25 million Gold Fields bribe under the guise of a "BEE" transaction by US investigators.[66]
Mbete marriedKeorapetse Kgositsile, an exiled writer and poet, in 1978.[3] They divorced in 1992,[4] and she remarried to Nape Khomo, a businessman, in 2016.[2] She has three sons and two daughters.[14]
| Political offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | Speaker of the National Assembly 2004–2008 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Deputy President of South Africa 2008–2009 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Speaker of the National Assembly 2014–2019 | Succeeded by |
Speakers of the lower house ofParliament of South Africa | ||
|---|---|---|
| House of Assembly (1910–1994) |  | |
| National Assembly (1994–present) | ||
