In December 2022,Tau was elected to a five-year term as a member of the ANC's National Executive Committee. He formerly served in party leadership positions at both the local and provincial levels,notably as party chairman in Johannesburg between 2011 and 2018 and then as provincial treasurer in Gauteng between 2018 and 2022.
Tau became regional secretary of the Johannesburg branch of the governing ANC in 1994,shortly after the onset of the post-apartheid transition.[2][6] Thereafter,he joined Johannesburg's transitional Southern Local Metropolitan Council as a representative of the ANC;aged 25,he became chairperson of the council's urban development committee and deputy chairperson of its executive committee.[7]
The Mail &Guardian later reported that Tau's wife was a minority shareholder in a black economic empowerment (BEE) consortium that also included a company,Regiments Capital,that had received state contracts from the Gauteng treasury. The newspaper suggested that Tau,as political head of the treasury,had ignored an improper conflict of interest.[8][9] Public integrity commissioner Jules Browde investigated the allegations after they were published in 2012,and he reportedly concluded in 2013 that Tau had lacked any influence over the relevant tender processes.[10]
Mayor of Johannesburg:2011–2016
Ahead of the 18 May 2011 local elections,Tau was the ANC's candidate in Johannesburg,touted to succeed Masondo as Mayor of Johannesburg.[11][12] The ANC retained a comfortable majority of seats in the city council,and Tau was elected as mayor in the inaugural council meeting on 26 May,easily defeating a challenge from Mmusi Maimane of the opposition Democratic Alliance (DA).[13][14] In October 2011,Tau was additionally elected as regional chairperson of the ANC's Johannesburg branch,again succeeding Masondo.[15]
As mayor Tau was viewed as a technocrat.[3][16] In his 2013 State of the City address,he introduced his so-called Corridors of Freedom agenda,which involved redressing apartheid-era spatial inequalities through inclusionary public transport,[17][18] including continued expansion of the Rea Vaya bus rapid transit system.[19] The policy was popular among some observers,[20] but others criticized its conceptualization or implementation.[21][22][23] Tau's 2015 State of the City address set out plans for transforming Johannesburg into a smart city,including through public Wi-Fi networks and "smart" pre-paid electricity meters.[24][25] Tau also committed to major infrastructure investments[26] and launched the Jozi@Work employment scheme.[27]
In the next local elections in August 2016,Tau stood for re-election as the ANC's mayoral candidate,[28] although some segments of the regional party suggested fielding an alternative candidate.[29][30] But the ANC's vote share declined precipitously in the election:it remained the largest party on the Johannesburg council but lost its majority,winning only 45 per cent of the vote.[31] At the inaugural council meeting on 23 August,the DA's Herman Mashaba was elected as mayor,receiving 144 votes to Tau's 125;decisive for the DA's victory was the support of the Economic Freedom Fighters.[32][33]
Leader of the opposition:2016–2019
Tau at the World Forum on Urban Violence in Madrid,Spain in April 2017
On 1 July 2018,Tau ceded the position of ANC regional chairperson in Johannesburg to Geoff Makhubo. The party said that Tau had not stood for re-election because he was planning to pursue elevation to the party's provincial leadership at the upcoming provincial ANC conference,to be held in Irene on 21 July.[40][41] Although he was nominated to stand for election as the provincial party's deputy chairman,the conference elected him as provincial treasurer instead.[42] The Mail &Guardian reported that he stepped out of the deputy leadership race after making a deal with supporters of Panyaza Lesufi,who won the deputy chairman position.[43][44]
In December 2020,Gauteng premier Makhura announced a reshuffle of his provincial executive,in which Tau was appointed as Member of the Executive Council (MEC) for Economic Development.[50] He resigned from the national executive to take up the position and was sworn back in to a seat in the Gauteng Provincial Legislature.[51] The provincial ANC Youth League reportedly opposed Tau's return to provincial politics.[52][53]
Tau's term as ANC provincial treasurer ended at the party's provincial conference in June 2022,where Morakane Mosupyoe was elected to succeed him.[54] Tau was not included in the party Provincial Executive Committee as elected at the conference,which led to speculation that he would be removed from the Gauteng Executive Council.[55] After Panyaza Lesufi replaced Makhura as premier in October 2022,he sacked Tau as MEC for Economic Development,appointing Tasneem Motara in his stead.[56]
Tau retained his legislative seat and was subsequently made chairperson of the legislature's finance committee.[57] In addition,in December 2022,he attended the ANC's 55th National Conference and was elected to a five-year term as a member of the party's National Executive Committee.[58] The committee in turn elected him to chair its subcommittee on local government intervention.[59]
On 26 January 2023,the Sunday Times reported that Tau had resigned abruptly from his seat in the Gauteng Provincial Legislature.[60] He was sworn in to a seat in the National Assembly of South Africa on 6 February,sparking rumors that he would be promoted to the national executive in an impending cabinet reshuffle.[61] When the reshuffle was announced on 6 March,President Ramaphosa returned Tau to his former position as Deputy Minister of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs.[62]
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