Fikile Majola

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One of the central issues before the energy committee during Majola's tenure was an abortive nuclear power deal, signed between Zuma's government and Russian nuclear agency Rosatom. The committee involved itself in oversight of the deal at an early stage, complaining that Parliament had not been sufficiently consulted, [43] and, over the objections of Tina Joemat-Pettersson's Ministry of Energy, it held public hearings to consult on the deal. [2] In a September 2015 interview with City Press , Majola committed to ensuring transparency in the deal and said that his committee would seek to block it if it was ill-advised, saying:

I think we have entered a new phase of the nuclear procurement process. It is now irreversible that we are going to have to conduct it in a very transparent manner, and we are going to have to allow robust public engagement... I'm not scared to be on my own from time to time on something that is correct... I am certain that if the legislature is going to proceed in such a way that it becomes just a rubber stamp, then it will not be in the interests of the spirit of the Constitution, which is meant to ensure there can be balance in the exercise of power. If the legislature can’t say no, then there is no point in having a legislature as a counterbalance. [2]

Newspapers described Majola as "a champion for transparency in the nuclear deal" [2] and, later, as "a largely lone battlement against Zuma’s nuclear aspirations". [44] He was criticised for closing a November 2016 committee meeting to the press, but he said that it was a "misunderstanding" and that the meeting had not discussed the nuclear deal. [45]

Tripartite Alliance positions

Majola continued to serve in the SACP Central Committee while in Parliament, [46] and he served the remainder of his five-year term on the ANC National Executive Committee. By 2017, there were signs that his support for Zuma had waned, with the Sunday Times reporting that he supported an anti-Zuma motion at a leadership meeting in May 2017. [47] He was not re-elected to the National Executive Committee when his term expired at the ANC's 54th National Conference in December 2017. [48]

Deputy Minister of Trade and Industry: 2019–present

Majola was re-elected to the National Assembly in the May 2019 general election, and, in the aftermath of the election, he was named as Deputy Minister of Trade and Industry by Zuma's successor, President Cyril Ramaphosa. With Nomalungelo Gina, he was one of two deputy ministers in the newly created Ministry of Trade, Industry and Competition and served under Minister Ebrahim Patel, also a former trade unionist. [49] His appointment alongside Patel was viewed as a major coup for the union movement. [44] [50] A source told the Mail & Guardian that, until his promotion, Majola had been "very unhappy for a long time in Parliament as he was never considered for a [ cabinet] post". [44]

During Majola's tenure in the ministry, in July 2022, the SACP held its 15th National Congress, at which Majola was re-elected to the Central Committee. He was also reappointed to the party's politburo, now as secretary for organising and campaigns in the union movement; in that capacity, he is assisted by two assistant secretaries, Zola Saphetha and Tinyiko Ntini. [46]

Personal life

Majola met his wife while she was a shop steward in Mpumalanga and he was Nehawu's assistant general secretary. [51] He also has a child with an official in Nehawu's Western Cape office. [51]

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References

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  2. 1 2 3 4 5 du Plessis, Charl (13 September 2015). "Nuclear deal will be clean – ANC MP". City Press. Retrieved 20 July 2023.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 "Deputy-Minister". The Department of Trade Industry and Competition. 29 March 2019. Retrieved 20 July 2023.
  4. 1 2 3 "Fikile Majola, Mr". South African Government. Retrieved 20 July 2023.
  5. ↑ The Shopsteward. Umanyano Publications for the Congress of South African Trade Unions. 1998. p. 12.
  6. 1 2 3 4 "ANC critics purged from Nehawu". The Mail & Guardian. 28 June 2013. Retrieved 20 July 2023.
  7. ↑ "Making their mark in the new millennium". The Mail & Guardian. 22 December 2000. Retrieved 20 July 2023.
  8. ↑ "Inquiry finds Nehawu 'deeply divided'". The Mail & Guardian. 6 June 2003. Retrieved 20 July 2023.
  9. 1 2 "Previous Central Committee Members". South African Communist Party (SACP). Retrieved 20 July 2023.
  10. ↑ "Nzimande re-elected to head SACP". The Mail & Guardian. 14 July 2007. Retrieved 20 July 2023.
  11. ↑ "Red Blade's bourgeois life". The Mail & Guardian. 12 July 2007. Retrieved 20 July 2023.
  12. 1 2 "Zuma trust fund hits crisis". The Mail & Guardian. 28 October 2005. Retrieved 20 July 2023.
  13. ↑ "Durban businessman is Zuma's key funder". The Mail & Guardian. 18 August 2005. Retrieved 20 July 2023.
  14. 1 2 3 de Lange, Jan (5 July 2011). "Cosatu lays bare its divisions". News24. Retrieved 20 July 2023.
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  16. ↑ "Top lefties snub ANC jobs". The Mail & Guardian. 9 February 2009. Retrieved 20 July 2023.
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  30. ↑ Botiveau, Raphaël (2013). "Longevity of the Tripartite Alliance: the post-Mangaung sequence". Review of African Political Economy. 40 (138): 620–627. ISSN   0305-6244.
  31. ↑ Nicolson, Greg (8 May 2016). "Vavi: We dropped the ball in '96, now it's time to pick it up". Daily Maverick. Retrieved 20 July 2023.
  32. 1 2 "Federation speaks with new voice". The Mail & Guardian. 29 November 2015. Retrieved 20 July 2023.
  33. 1 2 "'Strategic political rupture' between Vavi and Cosatu, says Nehawu". Business Day. 2 July 2013. Retrieved 20 July 2023.
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  35. ↑ "Judiciary, legislature, executive: What is Zuma planning?". The Mail & Guardian. 8 May 2014. Retrieved 20 July 2023.
  36. ↑ "Parliamentary payoff for pro-Zuma Cosatu officials". The Mail & Guardian. 15 May 2014. Retrieved 20 July 2023.
  37. ↑ "Nehawu proud to swell Parliament ranks". Sowetan. 9 June 2014. Retrieved 20 July 2023.
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  39. 1 2 "Nehawu replaces officials lost to Parliament". Business Day. 9 June 2014. Retrieved 20 July 2023.
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  43. ↑ Grootes, Stephen (15 October 2014). "The ANC's internal politics: Is Zuma's gravity field waning?". Daily Maverick. Retrieved 20 July 2023.
  44. 1 2 3 "Cyril aligns cogs in his Cabinet". The Mail & Guardian. 31 May 2019. Retrieved 20 July 2023.
  45. ↑ Heard, Janet (22 November 2016). "Fikile Majola recommits to transparency over nuclear plans". City Press. Retrieved 20 July 2023.
  46. 1 2 "Current Central Committee". South African Communist Party (SACP). Retrieved 20 July 2023.
  47. ↑ "'Zuma must go or face pain in parliament' — ANC faction warns". Sunday Times. 28 May 2017. Retrieved 20 July 2023.
  48. ↑ "Ministers' failure to make NEC list puts cabinet jobs in jeopardy". Sunday Times. 23 December 2017. Retrieved 20 July 2023.
  49. ↑ Nicolson, Greg (29 May 2019). "Ramaphosa cuts Cabinet from 36 to 28 ministers, half of whom are women". Daily Maverick. Retrieved 20 July 2023.
  50. ↑ "Ramaphosa's economic priorities find expression in new Cabinet". The Mail & Guardian. 29 May 2019. Retrieved 20 July 2023.
  51. 1 2 "Vavi camp to reveal 'worse' Cosatu affairs". The Mail & Guardian. 13 September 2013. Retrieved 20 July 2023.
The Honourable
Fikile Majola
MP
Deputy Minister of Trade and Industry
Assumed office
29 May 2019
Servingwith Nomalungelo Gina
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