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Reginah Mhaule

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The Honourable
Reginah Mhaule
MP
Deputy Minister of Basic Education
Incumbent
Assumed office
29 May 2019
PresidentCyril Ramaphosa
MinisterAngie Motshekga
Siviwe Gwarube
Preceded byEnver Surty
Member of the National Assembly
Incumbent
Assumed office
26 February 2018
Deputy Minister of International Relations and Cooperation
In office
26 February 2018 – 7 May 2019
Serving with Luwellyn Landers
PresidentCyril Ramaphosa
MinisterLindiwe Sisulu
Preceded byNomaindiya Mfeketo
Succeeded byAlvin Botes
Candith Mashego-Dlamini
Prior offices
2003–2018
Member of the Mpumalanga Executive Council for Education
In office
May 2009 – 26 February 2018
PremierDavid Mabuza
Preceded byMmathulare Coleman
Succeeded bySibusiso Malaza
Member of the Mpumalanga Provincial Legislature
In office
6 May 2009 – 26 February 2018
Executive Mayor of Mbombela
In office
2003–2006
Personal details
Born
Makgabo Reginah Mhaule

(1961-12-01) 1 December 1961 (age 62)
Hazyview, Transvaal
South Africa
Political partyAfrican National Congress
Alma materUniversity of Fort Hare (PhD)

Makgabo Reginah Mhaule (born 1 December 1961) is a South African politician from Mpumalanga who is currently serving as Deputy Minister of Basic Education. She has represented the African National Congress (ANC) in the National Assembly since 2018.

Mhaule is a teacher by profession and entered government as a local councillor in Mbombela Local Municipality, where she was Executive Mayor from 2003 to 2006. After that, she served in the Mpumalanga Provincial Legislature from 2009 to 2018. Throughout that time, she was Mpumalanga's Member of the Executive Council for Education in the provincial government of Premier David Mabuza.

She has been an elected member of the ANC National Executive Committee since December 2017, and she joined the National Assembly in February 2018, when President Cyril Ramaphosa appointed her as Deputy Minister of International Relations and Cooperation. She remained in that portfolio until after the 2019 general election, when she was appointed to her current office.

Education and early career

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Mhaule was born on 1 December 1961[1] in Hazyview in the former Eastern Transvaal.[2] She trained as a teacher after graduating high school. Later, after the end of apartheid, she completed a Bachelor of Arts at the University of South Africa in 1996, a Bachelor of Education Honours at the University of Potchefstroom in 2002, and a Master's in public administration at the University of Pretoria in 2012.[3] In May 2019, she completed a doctorate in public administration at the University of Fort Hare, with a dissertation about education outcomes in KwaMhlanga.[4]

She began her career as a primary school teacher in the Eastern Transvaal in 1980, though she later moved to a secondary school, Sibukosetfu Secondary in Hazyview, where she rose to become deputy principal and acting principal.[2][3] During her 20 years as a teacher, she was also politically active; she was the inaugural chairperson of the local Hazyview branch of the South African Democratic Teachers' Union when the union was established in 1990, and she also became a member of the African National Congress (ANC).[2]

Mbombela Local Municipality: 2000–2006

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In the December 2000 local elections, Mhaule was elected to represent the ANC as a local councillor in Mbombela Local Municipality in the Eastern Transvaal, by then renamed as Mpumalanga Province. She also became speaker of the council.[1] In July 2003,[2] she was promoted when she was elected as mayor of Mbombela. She held that office for three years, departing the council entirely in 2006. Thereafter she worked as a senior manager in the provincial Department of Roads and Transport until 2009.[3]

Mpumalanga Executive Council: 2009–2018

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In the April 2009 general election, Mhaule was elected to an ANC seat in the Mpumalanga Provincial Legislature.[3] On 12 May, newly elected Premier David Mabuza announced that she would also join the Executive Council of Mpumalanga as Member of the Executive Council for Education.[5] She was re-elected to her seat in the 2014 general election and remained in office for the remainder of Mabuza's premiership.[3]

During this period, Mhaule rose through the ranks of the ANC's provincial and national structures. In 2015, she was co-opted as a member of the ANC National Executive Committee,[6] and she was elected to a full five-year term on the committee at the ANC's 54th National Conference in December 2017.[7] Indeed, at the 2017 conference, she was the third-most popular candidate, behind only Zweli Mkhize and Lindiwe Zulu.[7] The Citizen reported that Mabuza had lobbied heavily for her candidacy, possibly because he wanted her to act as his "de-facto chief whip" in the committee.[8]

National government

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International Relations and Cooperation: 2018–2019

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On 26 February 2018, recently elected President Cyril Ramaphosa announced his cabinet and named Mhaule as Deputy Minister of International Relations and Cooperation under Minister Lindiwe Sisulu.[9] She was one of two deputy ministers in the portfolio, serving alongside Luwellyn Landers. In order to take up this position in the national government, Mhaule resigned from the Mpumalanga Provincial Legislature and was sworn in to the National Assembly.[10][11] James Masango, the provincial leader of the opposition Democratic Alliance, objected to Mhaule's promotion, claiming that both she and Mabuza – who was appointed as Ramaphosa's Deputy President – had "left havoc in the departments they oversaw" in Mpumalanga.[12]

Basic Education: 2019–present

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In the May 2019 general election, Mhaule was elected to a full term in the National Assembly, ranked 57th on the ANC's national party list.[13] In the aftermath of the election, Ramaphosa appointed her as Deputy Minister of Basic Education under long-serving Minister Angie Motshekga.[14] In December 2022, at the ANC's 55th National Conference, she was narrowly re-elected to the ANC National Executive Committee, ranked 78th of the 80 ordinary members elected.[15]

Personal life

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Mhaule is married.[1] In January 2019, her domestic worker opened a complaint against her with the police, alleging that Mhaule might have drawn her salary fraudulently.[16]

References

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  1. ^ a b c "Deputy Minister of Basic Education: Makgabo Reginah Mhaule, Dr". Department of Basic Education. Retrieved 22 July 2023.
  2. ^ a b c d "An Abridged Profile of the MEC" (PDF). S'bukosetfu. 2: 5. 2009.
  3. ^ a b c d e "Reginah Mhaule, Dr". South African Government. Retrieved 22 July 2023.
  4. ^ "Deputy Minister Reginah Mhaule receives Doctorate from Fort Hare". IOL. 20 May 2019. Retrieved 22 July 2023.
  5. ^ "Mpuma Premier announces his new cabinet". South African Government News Agency. 13 May 2009. Retrieved 3 January 2023.
  6. ^ "Cosatu fires Zwelinzima Vavi". The Mail & Guardian. 30 March 2015. Retrieved 22 July 2023.
  7. ^ a b "Meet the new ANC NEC". News24. 21 December 2017. Retrieved 22 July 2023.
  8. ^ Mathope, Gosebo (22 December 2017). "Mhaule, Mpumalanga fraud-accused MEC and ANC's 9th most popular leader". The Citizen. Retrieved 22 July 2023.
  9. ^ "New deputy president, finance minister announced in major Cabinet reshuffle". The Mail & Guardian. 26 February 2018. Retrieved 22 July 2023.
  10. ^ "DD Mabuza and Reginah Mhaule hand in resignation". Mpumalanga News. 27 February 2018. Retrieved 22 July 2023.
  11. ^ Herman, Paul (27 February 2018). "This is a transitional Cabinet – Ramaphosa on reshuffle". News24. Retrieved 22 July 2023.
  12. ^ "Mabuza's promotion an indication of a bigger problem – DA". Sunday Times. 27 February 2018. Retrieved 22 July 2023.
  13. ^ "Makgabo Reginah Mhaule". People's Assembly. Retrieved 22 July 2023.
  14. ^ "Unionists, women and an alleged smuggler? Who's who in Ramaphosa's Cabinet". The Mail & Guardian. 29 May 2019. Retrieved 22 July 2023.
  15. ^ "ANC NEC members". eNCA. 22 December 2022. Retrieved 22 July 2023.
  16. ^ "Domestic worker opens fraud case against Mpumalanga MEC's office". News24. 28 January 2017. Retrieved 22 July 2023.
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