Ronald Lamola

Last updated

Bawinile “Winnie” Msiza
​
​
(m. 2013)​
The Honourable
Ronald Lamola
MP
Ronald Lamola, International Relations and Cooperation of South Africa, on 16 July 2024 (cropped).jpg
Lamola in 2024
Minister of International Relations and Cooperation
Assumed office
3 July 2024
EducationMchacka High School. [1]
Alma mater
Occupation
  • Lawyer
  • politician
  • legislator
  • businessman
  • youth activist

Ronald Ozzy Lamola (born 21 November 1983) is a South African lawyer and politician who is the Minister of International Relations and Cooperation as a Member of the National Assembly of South Africa since 22 May 2019 as a member of the African National Congress (ANC). He was Minister of Justice and Correctional Services from May 2019 to June 2024. He is a member of the ANC's National Executive Committee and National Working Committee. Lamola had previously been involved in the African National Congress Youth League. [2] [3] [4]

Contents

Early life and education

Ronald Ozzy Lamola was born 21 November 1983 in the town of Bushbuckridge, then part of South Africa's Transvaal Province. He joined the ANC Youth League at the age of thirteen in 1996. In 2000, he matriculated from Mchacka High School. [5] He soon enrolled for a law degree at the University of Venda. During his time at the university, he was President of the Student Representative Council (SRC) and Chairperson of the South African Students Congress in Limpopo. [6]

He achieved a practical legal training degree from the University of South Africa in 2006. In 2008, he obtained a post-graduate certificate in corporate law from the University of South Africa. Later on, he received a post-graduate certificate in banking law and the financial markets. Lamola acquired an LLM in corporate law from the University of Pretoria. He attained a post-graduate certificate in telecommunications policy and regulation and management from Wits Enterprise. He holds two master's degrees from the University of Pretoria. [7] [8]

Career

Lamola started his law career as a lawyer at TMN Kgomo and Associates in 2006. Later on, in 2009, he was employed as a manager of the Govan Mbeki Local Municipality. He was the Director in the Office of the Mpumalanga MEC for Culture, Sports and Recreation from 2009 until 2011. Shortly after in 2011, he briefly served as the acting spokesperson for the Mpumalanga Premier David Mabuza. [9]

He is a former Deputy President of the African National Congress Youth League (ANCYL). He served alongside Youth League President Julius Malema prior to Malema's expulsion from the position in 2012 for bringing the party into disrepute. [10]

Lamola is a fierce critic of former ANC President Jacob Zuma. He openly endorsed Kgalema Motlanthe to succeed Zuma in 2012. [11] [12] [13]

For the 2014 elections, Lamola was a candidate for the National Assembly since he was 175th on the ANC's national list. Due to the ANC's electoral performance, he was not elected to Parliament. [14] After the 2015 ANCYL elective conference, Lamola disappeared from the public eye and subsequently managed his own law firm. [15]

In 2017, Lamola endorsed Cyril Ramaphosa to become ANC President. In December of the same year, Lamola was elected to the National Executive Committee of the African National Congress (NEC). [16] Shortly after, in January 2018, the ANC NEC appointed him to the party's National Working Committee, the party's highest decision-making structure. [17] Following the May 2019 elections, Lamola took office as a Member of the National Assembly. President Cyril Ramaphosa appointed him to the post of Minister of Justice and Correctional Services on 29 May. He assumed office the following day. [18]

Lamola was re-elected to a seat on the ANC NEC at the party's 55th National Conference held in December 2022. [19] He was re-elected to the NWC in January 2023. [20]

In September 2023, Lamola was appointed head of the ANC NEC Sub-committee on Constitutional and Legal Affairs, replacing Cyril Xaba, who was appointed head of the party's National Dispute Resolution Committee. [21]

On 3 July 2024, he was sworn in as the Minister of International Relations and Cooperation as part of President Cyril Ramaphosa's third cabinet. [22] This followed the formation of a Government of National Unity (GNU) through a grand coalition, after the ANC lost its absolute majority in the 2024 election.

In July 2024, he criticized Israel's occupation of the Palestinian territories, saying that the ICJ ruling on the Israeli occupation "affirms South Africa’s long-standing position that the occupation by Israel of Palestinian territory remains unlawful under international law". [23]

Personal life

Lamola married Bawinile “Winnie” Msiza at the Cunning Moor in Bushbuckridge, Mpumalanga, on 8 March 2013. [24]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">African National Congress Youth League</span> Youth wing of the African National Congress

The African National Congress Youth League (ANCYL) is the youth wing of the African National Congress (ANC). As set out in its constitution, the ANC Youth League is led by a National Executive Committee (NEC) and a National Working Committee (NWC).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gwede Mantashe</span> South African Politician

Samson Gwede Mantashe is a South African politician and former trade unionist who is currently serving as the Minister of Mineral Resources and Energy, with the function of Minister of Electricity and Energy having been accorded to Kgosientsho Ramokgopa. Mantashe was Minister of Mineral Resources and Energy from May 2019 to June 2024, and Minister of Mineral Resources from February 2018 to May 2019. He is also serving his second term as the national chairperson of the African National Congress (ANC).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fikile Mbalula</span> South African politician

Fikile April Mbalula is a South African politician and current Secretary-General of the African National Congress (ANC) since December 2022. He was a cabinet minister between 2010 and 2023, most proximately as Minister of Transport from 2019 to 2023.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Siyabonga Cwele</span> South African doctor and politician

Siyabonga Cyprian Cwele is a South African politician who served in the cabinet of South Africa from September 2008 to May 2019, most recently as the Minister of Home Affairs between 2018 and 2019. He was appointed as the South African Ambassador to China in December 2020. He is a member of the African National Congress (ANC) and represented the party in Parliament from 1994 to 2019.

Andries Carl Nel is a South African politician who is currently serving as the Deputy Minister of Justice and Constitutional Development. He is a member of the African National Congress (ANC) and was a human rights lawyer during apartheid.

David Mahlobo is a South African politician and Deputy Ministry of Human Settlements, Water and Sanitation. He is a former Minister of Energy and former Minister of State Security.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Stella Ndabeni-Abrahams</span> South African politician

Stella Tembisa Ndabeni-Abrahams is a South African politician who is currently serving as the Minister of Small Business Development since 5 August 2021. She previously served as Minister of Communications and Digital Technologies from November 2018 to August 2021. She is a member of the National Executive Committee (NEC) and a National Working Committee (NWC) of the African National Congress (ANC).

Mduduzi Comfort Manana is a South African politician from Mpumalanga. He was the Deputy Minister of Higher Education and Training from 2012 to 2017 and represented the African National Congress (ANC) in the National Assembly from 2009 to 2018.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pule Mabe</span> South African politician (born 1980)

Puleng Peter "Pule" Mabe is a South African politician who served as the national spokesperson of the African National Congress (ANC), South Africa's governing party, from 2018 to 2023. He formerly represented the ANC in the National Assembly from 2014 to 2017.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pinky Kekana</span> South African politician (born 1966)

Pinky Sharon Kekana is a South African politician from Limpopo who is currently the Deputy Minister of Public Service and Administration. A member of the African National Congress (ANC), she has served in the National Assembly of South Africa since May 2014 and in the national executive since February 2018.

Mokone Collen Maine is a South African politician who has been the North West's Member of the Executive Council for Arts, Culture, Sports and Recreation since June 2024. He was the president of the African National Congress (ANC) Youth League between September 2015 and July 2019.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mmamoloko Kubayi</span> South African Minister of Tourism

Mmamoloko Tryphosa Kubayi is a South African politician who is the Minister of Human Settlements and a Member of the National Assembly for the African National Congress (ANC). She is also the current head of the African National Congress's economic transformation subcommittee in the national executive committee (NEC). She was the Minister of Energy in 2017, the Minister of Communications from 2017 to 2018, the Minister of Science and Technology from 2018 to 2019, and the Minister of Tourism from 2019 to 2021.

Xola Nqola is a South African politician from the Eastern Cape. A member of the African National Congress (ANC), he is the chairperson of the National Assembly of South Africa's Portfolio Committee on Justice and Constitutional Development.

Ncediso Goodenough "Zizi" Kodwa is a South African politician and communications strategist who served as the Minister of Sports, Arts and Culture from March 2023 until his resignation in June 2024. Before that, he was the Deputy Minister of State Security from 2019 to 2023. He was formerly the national spokesperson of the African National Congress (ANC) from 2014 to 2018.

Siboniso Armstrong Duma is a South African politician who is the provincial chairperson of the African National Congress (ANC) in KwaZulu-Natal. He is also Member of the Executive Council (MEC) for Transport and Human Settlements in the KwaZulu-Natal government.

The 55th National Conference of the African National Congress (ANC) took place from 16 to 20 December 2022 at the Johannesburg Expo Centre in Nasrec, Gauteng. Attended by 4,426 voting delegates, the conference elected the party's 87-member National Executive Committee, including the party's top officials – for the first time known as the Top Seven, rather than the Top Six, after the conference amended the party's constitution to introduce a second deputy secretary-general position. Delegates also adopted resolutions on the party's governance and policy positions, with consideration of the outcomes of the ANC's 6th National Policy Conference, held in late July 2022.

Anna Tandi Moraka, commonly known as Thandi Moraka, is a South African politician from Limpopo. A member of the African National Congress (ANC), she has been the Deputy Minister of International Relations and Cooperation since July 2024. She joined the National Assembly of South Africa in the 2024 general election.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sindiso Magaqa</span> South African politician

Sindiso Magaqa was a South African politician from KwaZulu-Natal. A member of the African National Congress (ANC), he was assassinated while serving as a local councillor in Umzimkhulu Local Municipality. He was formerly the secretary general of the ANC Youth League from June 2011 to April 2012, when he was found guilty of misconduct and suspended from the party for a year.

Nonceba Bianca Mhlauli is a South African politician and communications strategist. She is currently serving as Deputy Minister in the Presidency since June 2024. A member of the African National Congress (ANC), she was elected to her first term in the National Assembly in the May 2024 general election. She rose to political prominence as the interim leader of the ANC Youth League between April 2021 and March 2023.

Ronalda Schivonne Nalumango is a South African politician from the Western Cape. She has represented the African National Congress (ANC) in the National Assembly of South Africa since her election in the May 2024 general election.

References

  1. ↑ "Ronald Lamola, 35: South Africa's youngest cabinet minister under Ramaphosa". Povo News. 1 June 2019. Retrieved 12 June 2019.
  2. ↑ Madia, Tshidi. Order! Meet SA's new Justice Minister Ronald Lamola, News24, 30 May 2019. Retrieved on 12 June 2019.
  3. ↑ "Justice minister Ronald Lamola visits Johannesburg court after gang bust-up". TimesLIVE. Retrieved 12 June 2019.
  4. ↑ "Ronald Lamola: Meet South Africa's new Justice Minister". The South African. 30 May 2019. Retrieved 12 June 2019.
  5. ↑ "Ronald Lamola, 35: South Africa's youngest cabinet minister under Ramaphosa". Povo News. 1 June 2019. Retrieved 12 June 2019.
  6. ↑ "UNIVEN graduate is appointed Minister of Justice and Correctional Services". University of Venda. Retrieved 12 June 2019.
  7. ↑ Ronald Lamola, Mr, South African Government. Retrieved on 12 June 2019.
  8. ↑ Lamola obtains 2nd master's degree. Retrieved on 12 June 2019.
  9. ↑ Grootes, Stephen (24 February 2020). "One to watch: Ronald Lamola, the young minister with presidential attributes" . The Daily Maverick. Retrieved 3 June 2020.
  10. ↑ Out! ANC upholds Julius Malema's expulsion. Retrieved on 12 June 2019.
  11. ↑ Fight for a better ANC - Lamola. Retrieved on 12 June 2019.
  12. ↑ Lamola endorses Motlanthe, Eyewitness News, 27 September 2012. Retrieved on 12 June 2019.
  13. ↑ ANCYL officially nominates Motlanthe. Retrieved on 12 June 2019.
  14. ↑ WATCH: Ronald Lamola's journey to cabinet, eNCA, 1 June 2019. Retrieved on 12 June 2019.
  15. ↑ Meet Ronald Lamola: Minister of Justice and Correctional Services. Retrieved on 12 June 2019.
  16. ↑ Lamola praises Mabuza's 'Damascus moment'. Retrieved on 12 June 2019.
  17. ↑ #ANCNEC elects NWC members. Retrieved on 12 June 2019.
  18. ↑ AS IT HAPPENED: Youngest minister Ronald Lamola takes his oath of office as Minister of Justice and Correctional Services. Retrieved on 12 June 2019.
  19. ↑ "NEW ANC NEC list sees more women than men". ewn.co.za. Retrieved 26 September 2023.
  20. ↑ Harper, Paddy (29 January 2023). "Ramaphosa consolidates control over ANC with clean sweep in national working committee". The Mail & Guardian. Retrieved 26 September 2023.
  21. ↑ Masuabi, Queenin (22 September 2023). "ANC NEC musical chairs sees Cyril Xaba step up for NDRC". Daily Maverick. Retrieved 26 September 2023.
  22. ↑ "Historic day for SA as government of national unity ministers take oath of office". Daily Maverick. 3 July 2024. Archived from the original on 3 July 2024. Retrieved 7 July 2024.
  23. ↑ "'Impunity must end': World reacts to ICJ ruling against Israeli occupation". Al Jazeera. 20 July 2024.
  24. ↑ ANCYL's Ronald Lamola weds. Retrieved on 12 June 2019.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.