Nomvula Mokonyane

Nomvula Paula Mokonyane (born 28 June 1963) is a South African politician who is currently the First Deputy Secretary-General of the African National Congress (ANC). She was the first female Premier of Gauteng from 2009 to 2014 and subsequently served in the national government as Minister of Water and Sanitation from 2014 to 2018, Minister of Communications in 2018, and Minister of Environmental Affairs from 2018 to 2019. Born in Gauteng, Mokonyane was a labour, community, and gender activist during apartheid. She was first elected as a Member of the Gauteng Provincial Legislature in 1994 and she served as a Member of the Executive Council in Gauteng from 1996 to 2009. Following the 2009 general election, Mokonyane, then the Deputy Provincial Chairperson of the ANC in Gauteng, was elected to succeed Paul Mashatile as Premier. After a full five-year term as Premier, she was appointed to the cabinet of President Jacob Zuma, where she served in the Water and Sanitation portfolio throughout Zuma's second term. When Cyril Ramaphosa succeeded Zuma as President, he retained Mokonyane in his cabinet before demoting her after the 2019 general election. Mokonyane went on to lead the ANC's internal organising department at Luthuli House until her election to the Deputy Secretary-General post at the party's 55th National Conference in December 2022. Known in the media as "Mama Action", Mokonyane has been a member of the ANC National Executive Committee since 2007 and formerly served on the national executive of the ANC Women's League and on the Central Committee of the South African Communist Party. In March 2022, the Zondo Commission recommended that Mokonyane should be prosecuted on charges of corruption in connection with allegations that she accepted bribes from Bosasa. Early life and activism Mokonyane was born on 28 June 1963 in Kagiso, a township in Krugersdorp on the West Rand of the Transvaal (now part of Gauteng province). She had six elder sisters and five elder brothers. She matriculated at Masupatsela High School. In later years, she attended tertiary certificate courses in Sweden and the United States.