Seiso Mohai

Last updated

Seiso Mohai
MP
Majority Chief Whip in the National Council of Provinces
Assumed office
May 2014
Personal details
Born (1966-11-08) 8 November 1966 (age 57)
Citizenship South Africa
Political party African National Congress

Seiso Joel Mohai (born 8 November 1966) is a South African politician who is currently the Chief Whip of the Majority Party in the National Council of Provinces (NCOP). He was first elected to that position after the 2014 general election and he represents the African National Congress. He formerly served in both the National Assembly and the Free State Provincial Legislature, and he was a Member of the Free State Executive Council from 2004 to 2013.

Contents

Early life and activism

Mohai was born on 8 November 1966. [1] In the early 1980s, he attended secondary school in Botshabelo, a township outside Bloemfontein in the Orange Free State. While a student, he became active in anti-apartheid politics, including through the Congress of South African Students and South African Youth Congress. He also helped establish the Garment and Allied Workers' Union among textiles workers in the region. [2]

After the African National Congress (ANC) was unbanned in 1990, he was recruited to the leadership of the ANC Youth League in the Southern Free State region around Botshabelo. He was elected to the Youth League's National Executive Committee in 1998. [2]

Career in government

In the 1999 general election, Mohai was elected to an ANC seat in the National Assembly, representing the Free State constituency, [1] but he left midway through the legislative term on 28 June 2001; his seat was filled by Butana Komphela. [3]

Thereafter he returned to the Free State to serve as ANC Chief Whip in the Free State Provincial Legislature. [2] He held the whip until the 2004 general election, after which he was appointed to the Free State Executive Council by Beatrice Marshoff, the newly elected Premier of the Free State; Marshoff made him Member of the Executive Council (MEC) for Public Works, Roads and Transport. [4] After the next general election in 2009, he was appointed MEC for Finance by Marshoff's successor, Premier Ace Magashule. [5] However, in March 2013, Magashule fired Mohai from the Executive Council, replacing him with Elzabe Rockman. [6] He said that Mohai was a "very strong leader" and that the ANC had decided to "redeploy" him to the national Parliament. [7]

Mohai rejoined the National Assembly on 26 March 2013, filling a casual vacancy. [8] He served in that seat until the 2014 general election, when he was elected to the National Council of Provinces (NCOP), the upper house of the Parliament, and appointed the ANC's Chief Whip in the NCOP. [2] [8] He was re-elected both to his NCOP seat and to the whip's office after the 2019 general election. [9] In January 2023, he was one of three candidates nominated by the ANC for election as Mayor of Mangaung. [10]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ace Magashule</span> South African politician and activist

Elias Sekgobelo "Ace" Magashule is a South African politician and former anti-apartheid activist who served as the Secretary General of the African National Congress (ANC), South Africa's governing party, between December 2017 and his suspension on 3 May 2021. He served as the Premier of the Free State, one of South Africa's nine provinces, from 2009 until 2018, and was known to be influential in the ANC of his home province.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sisi Ntombela</span> 6th Premier of the Free State

Sefora Hixsonia "Sisi" Ntombela is a South African politician who was the 6th Premier of the Free State and a Member of the Free State Provincial Legislature for the African National Congress. She previously served as the Free State MEC for Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs and Human Settlements and as MEC for Social Development. Ntombela was also the Deputy President of the African National Congress Women's League and the treasurer of the Free State ANC.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">27th South African Parliament</span> Current session of South African Parliament

The 27th South African Parliament is the sixth Parliament of South Africa to convene since the introduction of non-racial government in South Africa in 1994. It was elected in the general election of 8 May 2019 and consists of the National Assembly and the National Council of Provinces. The National Assembly contains 400 members, while the National Council of Provinces contains 90 members. It was formally opened by President Ramaphosa's State of the Nation Address in a joint sitting on 20 June 2019.

Sarah Matawana "Olly" Mlamleli is a South African politician who served as the mayor of the Mangaung Metropolitan Municipality from August 2016 until August 2020. A member of the African National Congress, she served as the Member of the Executive Council (MEC) for Cooperative Governance, Traditional Affairs and Human Settlements from February 2012 to August 2016. In 2020, Mlamleli was ousted as Mayor of Mangaung and arrested over a controversial asbestos contract stemming from her time with the MEC.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tate Makgoe</span> South African politician (1963–2023)

Pule Herbert Isak Makgoe was a South African politician and anti-apartheid activist. A member of the African National Congress, he was elected to the Free State Provincial Legislature in 1994. After holding multiple positions in the Executive Council of the Free State, he was appointed Member of the Executive Council for Education in May 2009, a position he would hold until his death in March 2023.

Makalo Petrus Mohale is a South African lawyer and African National Congress politician serving as the Member of the Executive Council (MEC) for Education. He had previously been the MEC for Economic, Small Business Development, Tourism and Environmental Affairs (DESTEA) from May 2019 until March 2023. Mohale is the provincial chairperson of the African National Congress Youth League.

Limakatso Patricia Mahasa is a South African politician who currently serves as the Member of the Executive Council (MEC) for Sport, Arts, Culture and Recreation in the Free State. A member of the African National Congress, she previously served as the MEC for Economic, Small Business Development, Tourism & Environmental Affairs and as the MEC for Social Development.

The Executive Council of the Free State is the cabinet of the executive branch of the provincial government in the South African province of the Free State. The Members of the Executive Council (MECs) are appointed from among the members of the Free State Provincial Legislature by the Premier of the Free State, an office held since March 2018 by Sisi Ntombela of the African National Congress (ANC).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mxolisi Dukwana</span> South African politician

Mxolisi Abraham Dukwana is a South African politician who has been the seventh Premier of the Free State since February 2023. He has also served as Provincial Chairperson of the Free State branch of his political party, the African National Congress (ANC), since January 2023. Prior to his election as Premier, he served in the Free State Executive Council as Member of the Executive Council (MEC) for Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs since October 2021.

Thabo Manyoni is a South African politician who was the Mayor of Mangaung Metropolitan Municipality from 2011 to 2016. He represented his party, the African National Congress (ANC), in the Free State Executive Council from 2009 to 2011 and in the National Assembly from 2016 to 2017. He was Deputy Provincial Chairperson of the ANC's Free State branch from 2008 to 2017. He was also Chairperson of the South African Local Government Association from 2011 to 2016 and in 2019 he was appointed to a five-year term as Chairperson of South Africa's Municipal Demarcation Board.

Motlagomang Grazy Qabathe, commonly known as Mamiki Qabathe, is a South African politician who served in the Executive Council of the Free State as Member of the Executive Council (MEC) for Social Development from May 2019 until October 2023. Before that, she was Speaker of the Free State Provincial Legislature from 2015 to 2019. She is a member of the African National Congress (ANC).

Dikeledi Gladys Mahlangu is a South African politician who is currently serving as Chairperson of the Select Committee on Appropriations in the National Council of Provinces. She formerly represented her party, the African National Congress, in the National Assembly from 2014 to 2019. Before that, she was a Member of the Mpumalanga Provincial Legislature and from 2009 to 2014 she served in the Mpumalanga Executive Council under Premier David Mabuza.

Nokwanje Selina "Mathabo" Leeto is a South African politician who has been the Member of the Executive Council (MEC) for Health in the Executive Council of the Free State and a Member of the Free State Provincial Legislature since 2023. Leeto had previously served in the provincial legislature between 2014 and 2019 and during that time, she was the MEC for Sports, Arts, Culture and Recreation. Leeto is the Provincial Treasurer of the African National Congress, as of 2023.

Modise Casalis "Casca" Mokitlane is a former politician and diplomat from South Africa who served in the Free State Provincial Legislature from 1999 until 2014. He is a former Deputy Provincial Chairperson of the African National Congress (ANC) and is known for his short-lived defection to the opposition Congress of the People (COPE) between 2009 and 2014.

Benjamin "Benny" Malakoane is a South African politician and medical doctor who served in the Free State Executive Council from 2004 to 2005 and from 2013 to 2019. A member of the African National Congress (ANC), he dropped out of the Executive Council after failing to gain re-election to the Free State Provincial Legislature in the 2019 general election.

Butana Moses Komphela was a South African politician who represented the African National Congress (ANC) in the National Assembly and Free State Provincial Legislature until 2019. He served as the Chairperson of the Portfolio Committee on Sports, Arts and Culture and after that he held several positions in the Free State Executive Council from 2011 to 2019. He died of COVID-19-related illness in 2022 during the COVID-19 pandemic in South Africa.

Motete Daniel "Oupa" Khoabane is a South African politician who represented the African National Congress (ANC) in the Free State Provincial Legislature from 2014 to 2019. During that time, he served as the Free State's Member of the Executive Council (MEC) for Agriculture and Rural Development from 2015 to 2018 and as MEC for Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs from 2018 to 2019. He failed to gain re-election to the provincial legislature in the 2019 general election.

Mantsheng Anna "Ouma" Tsopo was a South African politician who represented the African National Congress (ANC) in the Free State Provincial Legislature from 1994 to 2014. Between 1994 and 2009, she served almost continuously in the Free State Executive Council and held several different portfolios, including as the Free State's inaugural Member of the Executive Council (MEC) for Local Government and Housing from 1994.

Dibeela Gertrude Mothupi is a South African politician who has been a part-time member of the Commission for Gender Equality since 2019. She was Mayor of Mangaung from 2006 to 2008 and served in the Free State Provincial Legislature.

Sekhopi Molisaotsile Andrew Malebo is a South African politician and former anti-apartheid activist from the Free State. He was the Free State's Member of the Executive Council (MEC) for Public Works, Roads and Transport from 1997 to 2004. Before that, he represented the African National Congress (ANC) in the National Assembly from 1994 to 1996.

References

  1. 1 2 "General Notice: Notice 1319 of 1999 – Electoral Commission: Representatives Elected to the Various Legislatures" (PDF). Government Gazette of South Africa . Vol. 408, no. 20203. Pretoria, South Africa: Government of South Africa. 11 June 1999. Retrieved 26 March 2021.
  2. 1 2 3 4 "Mr Seiso Mohai (ANC)". People's Assembly. 20 March 2017. Retrieved 19 January 2023.
  3. "The National Assembly List of Resinations and Nominations". Parliament of South Africa. 2 June 2002. Archived from the original on 2 June 2002. Retrieved 2 April 2023.
  4. "Marshoff names new Free State council". IOL. 3 May 2004. Retrieved 3 January 2023.
  5. "Free State provincial ministers announced". The Mail & Guardian. 11 May 2009. Retrieved 3 January 2023.
  6. "Magashule sacks Free State finance MEC". News24. 12 March 2013. Retrieved 3 January 2023.
  7. "Cabinet reshuffle". Bloemfontein Courant. 20 March 2013. Retrieved 10 January 2023.
  8. 1 2 "Seiso Joel Mohai". People's Assembly. Retrieved 19 January 2023.
  9. "Masondo elected NCOP chairperson". eNCA. 23 May 2019. Retrieved 19 January 2023.
  10. "Three up for Mangaung mayorship". eNCA. 15 January 2023. Retrieved 19 January 2023.