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Mokonyane sworn in as premier
07 May 2009 By Lesego Madumo NOMVULA MOKONYANE, Mogale City’s very own daughter, has been sworn in as Gauteng’s fifth premier and the first woman to head South Africa’s economic powerhouse. Mokonyane was inaugurated at the Gauteng Legislature in the Johannesburg city centre on Wednesday, 6 May amid a South African Police Service cavalcade that brought the CBD to a standstill. She is the deputy chairperson of the ANC in the province, and is a member of the ANC’s Women’s League National Executive Committee and the National Working Committee. Accepting her nomination as premier, Mokonyane said she was cognisant of the challenges that surrounded her tenure, adding that she was “up to the task”. Her ascendency to the Gauteng premiership was steered by president-elect Jacob Zuma, and comes after the ANC won the national elections on 22 April. The party also won elections in eight provinces. Mokonyane, who grew up on the dusty streets of Kagiso and matriculated at Masupatsela High School, said that as part of her mandate, Gauteng’s decrepit health and volatile education system would be overhauled and her energies would be focused on augmenting the economy and creating decent jobs. Taking over the helm at Gauteng – South Africa’s smallest, yet densely populated, province – at the time of global economic meltdown and skyrocketing food prices, Mokonyane said her responsibility would be to “build a better life for all of our people”. Kagiso birthMokonyane was previously the MEC for housing. She was born in Kagiso on 26 June 1963 and has led a distinguished career spanning nearly three decades in politics. Having also served as the MEC of safety and security, and agriculture and environment, Mokonyane is one of Gauteng’s most experienced politicians. The new premier has vowed to rigorously tackle the corruption and crime that has gripped Gauteng for years. She noted at a press conference after her inaugural address that she would give precedence to education, infrastructural development, job creation and rural development. Although Gauteng was not a rural province, Mokonyane noted that her administration would support small farmers and ensure that “our people work the land”. Although controversy surrounded her appointment, the new premier said she was ready to focus on her mandate. “Learning from our past experiences we are going to do things differently because we know what works and we know what does not work,” she said. Her “completely new” cabinet, which is expected to be sworn in on 8 May, would develop a detailed programme for the next five years. “This will be a team that will improve on our weaknesses as a province and we will be interactive.” Gender parity Mokonyane praised her predecessor’s sterling leadership qualities, noting that the sacrifices made by Paul Mashatile during his short tenure had ensured that Gauteng had a strong economic foundation on which to prosper and provide job opportunities. Giving his congratulatory remarks, Mashatile said that Gauteng had not just elected a woman. “We have elected a capable leader. Our new premier has the support of everybody,” he said. They had been friends and colleagues for more than two decades, and Mashatile was quick to refute claims made in the media that the two had had a fallout over the selection of one over the other. He also denied claims that there were two centres of power, with him as the ANC provincial chairperson and Mokonyane as the premier. “We have been together for a long time, so I give her my full support as Gauteng premier and hope that we will be able to attend to all the problems that face our people,” said Mashatile. The day started with Mokonyane being sworn in officially as the Gauteng premier in the Gauteng Legislature. She replaces the gregarious Mashatile, who has taken a seat as a member of the Gauteng legislature. Wearing a sultry gold dress with black and silver trim, Mokonyane was charming and very confident as she exchanged hugs and kisses with her colleagues, family and friends after posing for an official photograph of the members of the provincial parliament, outside the Gauteng Legislature. Mokonyane started her political career in the early 1980s as a student activist, when she became a member of the Young Christian Students (YCS) and a founder member of the Congress of South African Students (Cosas). She was also the publicity secretary of the Krugersdorp branch of the United Democratic Front and an organiser of the Federation of Transvaal Women (Fedtaw), an organisation that supported the families of detainees and the youth in their fight for democratic student representative councils. From 2004 to 2009, she served as the MEC of housing, during which time she spearheaded the development of women’s enterprises in the construction and housing sector. She is married to Serge and is the mother of Afrika, Katleho and Retlabusa.
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 Members of the Gauteng Provincial Legislature
Related stories Daughter of Kagiso becomes premier Parties warned to remove election posters Mokonyane fires up learners.
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