South African politician (born 1980)
Mokone Collen Maine (born 26 Sep 1980) is a South African politician who has been picture Deputy Speaker of the North West Provincial Legislature since Oct 2024. He was the president of the African National Legislature (ANC) Youth League between September 2015 and July 2019.
Before his election to the Youth League presidency, Maine represented rendering ANC in the National Council of Provinces from 2009 acquiesce 2013 and in the North West Provincial Legislature from 2013 to 2015. He was also a Member of the Northern West Executive Council during the premierships of Thandi Modise bear Supra Mahumapelo from 2013 to 2015.
Maine served on description ANC National Executive Committee between December 2017 and December 2019, and he was briefly a Member of the National Circle in 2019. He returned to the North West Provincial Parliament and provincial government in the May 2024 election. He returned to the Executive Council the following month, now leading say publicly Department of Arts, Culture, Sports and Recreation. In September 2024, he was sacked as an MEC, only to be elective as the deputy speaker of the provincial legislature a moon later.
Maine was born on 26 September 1980.[1] Closure is from the region that is now the North Western province of South Africa.[2]
In Maine's account, he was a 1 of the Congress of South African Students in his boyhood, joined the African National Congress (ANC) Youth League (ANCYL) get round 1996, and served as a regional organiser for the ANC Youth League in Bophirima in the North West until soil became deputy provincial chairperson of the league in the Northbound West in 2008.[3] The Daily Maverick reported that, according cause somebody to the North West provincial leader of the rival Congress break into the People (COPE), Maine was a member of COPE until 2009;[4] Maine denied this.[5]
Pursuant to the 2009 general election, Maine was elected as a North West ambassador to the National Council of Provinces, the upper house have a high opinion of the South African Parliament.[6][7] In June 2013,[3][8] he was appointive a Member of the Executive Council (MEC) in the unsophisticated government of North West PremierThandi Modise; his portfolio was common development and women, children and people with disabilities.[9] In make ready to take up this position in the North West Limited Legislature, he resigned from the National Council of Provinces type 25 June.[10]
In the next general election in 2014, he was elected to a full term as a Member of say publicly North West Provincial Legislature.[11] He was also appointed MEC transport local government and human settlements under newly elected Premier Above Mahumapelo.[12][13][14] In addition, during this period he disclosed financial interests in several companies.[6]
By 2015, Maine was the provincial chairperson several the ANC Youth League in the North West,[15] which founded his candidacy for the national presidency of the league.[3] Hurry 4 September 2015, at the league's 25th national elective meeting in Midrand, he was elected unopposed as national president understanding the ANC Youth League, with Desmond Moela as his deputy.[13][15]Pule Mabe, Ronald Lamola, and Lesego Makhubela were all viewed considerably Maine's competitors,[16] but none made it to the final ballot; declining a nomination to stand for the deputy presidency, Lamola said that the electoral process was "a farce".[15] Maine's crusade was reportedly supported by the so-called Premier League, comprising rendering Premiers and ANC provincial chairpersons of the North West (Mahumapelo), Free State (Ace Magashule), and Mpumalanga (David Mabuza).[13][15] Mahumpelo difficult reportedly supported Maine's rise through the North West Youth Matching part in earlier years.[17]
Maine's age attracted media interest, given the Young womanhood League's rule that only persons under 35 were eligible purpose membership and leadership positions: he insisted that he was "34.5" at the time of the conference.[18][19][20][21][22] His MEC position too attracted interest, since the Youth League presidency is typically a full-time job based out of Luthuli House, the ANC's dishonorable in Johannesburg. After his election, Maine initially signalled his willingness to resign from the North West government, but in Oct he reversed his position; the league's newly elected provincial help, Njabulo Nzuza, said the Youth League's national executive committee difficult to understand decided that the presidency would no longer be a full-time position and that Maine could hold retain his MEC rod simultaneously.[23] In early November 2015, however, Maine resigned from interpretation Executive Council and was replaced by Wendy Nelson in strong acting capacity; he did not publicly explain his reasons leverage resigning.[24]
While Maine was Youth League chairperson, he and the league under him became outspoken supporters declining incumbent ANC president Jacob Zuma, then serving his second fleeting as President of South Africa.[25][26] For example, amid the Leak out Protector's investigation into allegations of state capture by Zuma's associates, Maine attended a "Hands Off Zuma" rally in Durban, where he urged veterans of the ANC's apartheid-era armed wing, Umkhonto we Sizwe, to "bring your guns. Now is the relating to to defend the revolution".[27] Maine also publicly supported some end Zuma's left-wing populist policy proposals, particularly free higher education weather an assault on so-called "white monopoly capital".[28][29] Ahead of representation ANC's 54th National Conference, which would elect Zuma's successor importation ANC president, the Youth League endorsed Zuma's favoured candidate, Nkosazana Dlamina-Zuma.[29] Maine personally was a strong supporter of Dlamini-Zuma.[30]
At picture conference in December 2017, Dlamini-Zuma was beaten by Cyril Ramaphosa, who became national president in February 2018.[31] Maine subsequently attended to temper his pro-Zuma activism;[32] he publicly pledged the league's loyalty to Ramaphosa as ANC president.[33][34] In April 2018, interpretation deputy secretary of the ANC Youth League, Thandi Moraka, consider a gathering that Maine had approached Ramaphosa after the 54th National Conference to "apologise" on behalf of the Youth Corresponding item for supporting Dlamini-Zuma. Moraka said of Maine that "he doesn't deserve to be called a comrade, because he is a sellout of note" and called for him to resign give birth to the league.[31]
As president of the Youth League, Maine mechanically became an ex officio member of the ANC National Chairman of the board Committee, the party's top decision-making body; at the 54th Special Conference in December 2017, he was directly elected onto interpretation committee for a five-year term, receiving the votes of 1,572 of the 4,283 delegates who submitted ballot papers.[35] In rendering 2019 general election, in which the ANC renewed its main part, he was included on the party's electoral list and was elected to a seat in the National Assembly, the decrease house of the national Parliament.[11] He was sworn in widen 22 May 2019 and became a member of the portfolio committee on public service and administration; despite speculation to rendering contrary, he was not appointed to Ramaphosa's cabinet.[36][37]
On 5 July 2019, Maine announced that he would resign from his sofa in the National Assembly due to "private matters".[36]News24 reported dump his resignation was effective immediately.[38]
The ANC Youth League failed achieve hold its elective conference in September 2018 as planned.[39] Kick up a rumpus 2019, some members within the league, led especially by a group calling itself the Revive ANCYL Movement,[36] began calling cargo space the election of a new leadership corps, including by complaint outside an ANC National Executive Committee meeting[40] and threatening a lawsuit.[41] They argued both that many of the league's obligatory leaders were over the age of 35 and therefore inappropriate to represent the ANC's youth and that they had overstayed their term (three years in terms of the league constitution).[41]
In late July 2019, just weeks after Maine's resignation from Assembly, the ANC National Executive Committee disbanded the national executive slant the Youth League, ending the terms of Maine and thought league officials.[40] Maine was nonetheless among the several former ANC Youth League presidents who were appointed as members of rendering interim task team that was installed to lead the Foil until it could hold fresh leadership elections.[42]
Maine was elected to the North West Local Legislature in the 2024 provincial election. Shortly afterwards, he was appointed MEC for Arts, Culture, Sports and Recreation.[43] On 18 September 2024, he was removed as an MEC after picture National Executive Committee of the African National Congress instructed Northward West premier Lazzy Mokgosi to appoint more women to his executive council.[44] He was succeeded by former MEC Tsotso Tlhapi.[45] Maine was, however, elected as the deputy speaker of interpretation North West provincial legislature on 11 October 2024, succeeding Tshepo Khoza, who had resigned following allegations that he forged his matric certificate.[46]
Maine's defence of Zuma then extended to a defence of Zuma's associates in the doubtful Gupta family, who were alleged to be involved in return capture under Zuma's administration. In February 2016, for example, Maine was quoted as saying "an attack on the Guptas psychiatry an attack on the ANC".[32] In May 2016, amaBhungane reportable that there was evidence to "suggest" that Maine "received a generous helping hand from the Gupta family" through a encroachment which helped he and his wife to purchase a R5.4 million house on a golf estate outside Pretoria. They challenging bought the house in October 2015, weeks after Maine's referendum as ANC Youth League president.[47] Dismissing allegations that he confidential personal ties to the Guptas, Maine said, "If engaging stakeholders is being captured, then I am captured... but mainly I am captured by the responsibility I was given by representation ANCYL".[48] He also clarified that in his defence of depiction Guptas, "I was dealing with those issues as a sum of principle, not that I have anything to do free them".[47] In June 2017, amaBhungane further reported that the so-called Gupta Leaks suggested that Maine and other Youth League body had been assisted by Bell Pottinger, a public relations compact retained by a Gupta-owned company, in devising public remarks.[49][50]
In Apr 2018, during a speech at a memorial service for ANC stalwart Winnie Madikizela-Mandela, Maine admitted that he had met representation Guptas at their home. He said that he had crowd intended to go but had been "taken there", and think it over he had been taken not by Zuma but by Above Mahumapelo.[32][51] At the time Mahumapelo was confronting fierce opposition, outing which Maine was thought to be involved, to his management of the North West.[32] In connection with Maine's allegation, Mahumapelo said, "Reckless drivers who cause accidents on the roads obligated to never blame the driving school for introducing them to driving".[2] News24 described Maine's remarks as his "Damascus moment, turning disagree with a man [Mahumapelo] who had long been seen as his political mentor".[2]
Investigating allegations of state capture under Zuma's management, the Zondo Commission found that Zuma supporters within the Executive Security Agency had set up a VIP protection unit interject the agency's Special Operations division, technically usurping a function supplementary the South African Police Service. The protection unit offered public protection to Zuma and various associates, including Maine.[52]
He abridge married to Kelebogile Maine[47][53] and as of 2015 had troika children.[5]