Humphrey Maxegwana | |
|---|---|
| Chairperson of the Joint Committee on Ethics and Members' Interests | |
| In office 25 October 2018 –7 May 2019 Servingwith Omie Singh | |
| Preceded by | Amos Masondo |
| Succeeded by | Bekizwe Nkosi |
| Member of the National Assembly | |
| In office 21 May 2014 –7 May 2019 | |
| Personal details | |
| Citizenship | South Africa |
| Political party | African National Congress |
Comely Humphrey Maqocwa Maxegwana is a South African politician who represented the African National Congress (ANC) in the National Assembly from 2014 until 2019,when he failed to gain re-election. Before that,he represented the ANC in the Eastern Cape Provincial Legislature. He was a prominent trade unionist in the Eastern Cape during apartheid and is also a former Provincial Secretary of the ANC's Eastern Cape branch.
After matriculating in 1974,Maxegwana was active in the South African Students' Movement and,from 1977,the Black People's Convention,both anti-apartheid organisations affiliated to the Black Consciousness movement. [1] In 1977,he was recruited to the South African Congress of Trade Unions (SACTU);he was an underground operative for SACTU in East London and later worked closely with the South African Allied Workers' Union. [2] [1] SACTU sent him abroad in 1985. [2]
After the end of apartheid,Maxegwana represented the ANC in the Eastern Cape Provincial Legislature. [1] He was Provincial Secretary of the ANC's Eastern Cape branch,serving under Provincial Chairperson Makhenkesi Stofile,from 1996 until 2006, [3] [4] when he was replaced by Siphatho Handi. [5] He also served as Majority Party Chief Whip in the legislature until August 2013,when the ANC removed him in line with a party resolution that all Chief Whips should be selected from among members of the party's internal Provincial Executive Committees;he was replaced by Mzoleli Mrara. [6]
In the 2014 general election,Maxegwana did not stand for re-election to the provincial legislature but instead was elected to a seat in the National Assembly,the lower house of the South African Parliament;he was ranked tenth on the ANC's provincial-to-national party list for the Eastern Cape. [7] In May 2016,the ANC announced that he would additionally serve as Chairperson of the Portfolio Committee on Communications and Digital Technologies,replacing Joyce Moloi-Moropa,who had resigned from Parliament. [8] He departed that position in late October 2018,when the ANC nominated him to replace Amos Masondo as co-chairperson of the Joint Committee on Ethics and Members' Interests. [9] In the 2019 general election,he was ranked 166th on the ANC's national party list and was not re-elected to his legislative seat. [7]
In July 2020,Maxegwana was elected to succeed Alfred Mtsi as Speaker of the Buffalo City Metropolitan Municipality council;he received 54 votes against the 22 votes received by the opposition candidate,the Democratic Alliance's Geoffrey Walton. [10] [11] After the local elections of November 2021,IOL reported that Maxegwana was one of three leading contenders for the position of Mayor of Buffalo City. [12] He was not ultimately elected to the mayoral office but remained in office as Speaker. [1]