Province of the Cape of Good Hope Provinsie Kaap die Goeie Hoop
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Geography
Status	Province of South Africa
HQ	Cape Town
History
Origin	Cape Colony
Created	31 May 1910
Abolished	31 May 1994
Succeeded by	Western Cape, Eastern Cape, Northern Cape, North West
Politics
Governance	Cape Provincial Council
Subdivisions
Type	Districts

The Province of the Cape of Good Hope^[1] (commonly referred to simply as the Cape Province) was a province in the Union of South Africa and subsequently the Republic of South Africa. It encompassed the old Cape Colony, and had Cape Town as its capital.

It was created in 1910 when the Union of South Africa was formed, and included the original Cape Colony and other regions such as British Bechuanaland (not to be confused with the Bechuanaland Protectorate, now Botswana), Griqualand East (the area around Kokstad) and Griqualand West (area around Kimberley). This gave the Cape Province an area similar in size to the U.S. state of Texas.^[2]

At the time of the formation of the Union of South Africa the entire region now called South Africa was only four provinces: Transvaal (South African Republic), Natal (Natalia Republic), Orange Free State and the Cape Province.

During the apartheid era the country was chopped up into a number of additional pieces which were known as the four TBVC States and the six Non-Independent Homelands.

After the first fully democratic elections in 1994 all the pieces were put together again and divided into what are now the current nine provinces of South Africa. Walvis Bay was handed to Namibia.

Griqualand East was transferred to Natal Province after the Transkei was declared independent, since it was cut off from the rest of the province. The Transkei (1976) and Ciskei (1981) regions were declared independent of South Africa, after they were formerly part of the Cape Province. (They were re-incorporated into South Africa in 1994, both part of the new Eastern Cape province)

It was the only province where coloureds (mixed-race people) could vote, although this right was removed by the apartheid government in 1956. The government had to incorporate many extra senators in parliament to force through this change.^{[citation needed]}

Since 1994, it has been broken up into three smaller provinces: the Western Cape, Eastern Cape and Northern Cape. Parts of the Cape Province were also absorbed into the North West.

See also[link]

• Provinces of South Africa

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikisource has the text of the 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica article Cape Colony.

• A history of the Cape Province
• Archives kept at Cape Town

v t e Administrative Divisions of South Africa (1910-1994) Provinces of South Africa Province of the Cape of Good Hope · Province of the Orange Free State · Province of the Transvaal · Province of Natal Non-Independent Homelands Gazankulu · KaNgwane · KwaNdebele · KwaZulu · Lebowa · Qwaqwa Independent Homelands Transkei · Bophuthatswana · Venda · Ciskei Dependent territories Mandate of South-West Africa

His Excellency Kgalema Motlanthe
Deputy President of South Africa
Incumbent
Assumed office 9 May 2009
President	Jacob Zuma
Preceded by	Baleka Mbete
President of South Africa
In office 25 September 2008 – 9 May 2009
Deputy	Baleka Mbete
Preceded by	Thabo Mbeki
Succeeded by	Jacob Zuma
Deputy President of the African National Congress
Incumbent
Assumed office 18 December 2007
Preceded by	Jacob Zuma
Secretary-General of the African National Congress
In office 1997–2007
Preceded by	Cyril Ramaphosa
Succeeded by	Gwede Mantashe
Personal details
Born	Kgalema Petrus Motlanthe (1949-07-19) 19 July 1949 (age 62) Alexandra, Transvaal Province, Union of South Africa
Nationality	South African
Political party	African National Congress
Spouse(s)	Mapula Motlanthe
Religion	Anglicanism

Kgalema Petrus Motlanthe (pronounced [ˈkxɑ.lɪ.mɑ mʊ.ˈtɬʼɑ.n.tʰɛ])^[1] (born 19 July 1949) is a South African politician who served as President of South Africa between 25 September 2008 and 9 May 2009, completing the second elected term of Thabo Mbeki.^[2]

Following the end of his presidency, Motlanthe was appointed as the Deputy President of South Africa by his successor, current South African president Jacob Zuma. Motlanthe is also concurrently serving as Deputy President of the African National Congress (ANC), a position he has held since 2007, likewise under Zuma who is also the current President of the ANC.

Motlanthe, who had maintained a low public profile, was elected to the presidency of South Africa by the South African National Assembly following the resignation of Mbeki, and was widely considered to be acting as a "caretaker president" on behalf of Zuma.^[3] Zuma succeeded Motlanthe on 9 May 2009 in a presidential election held by the South African National Assembly, following the 2009 general election which had been won by the ANC.^[2]

Motlanthe was previously a student activist, trade unionist and member of the ANC's military wing Umkhonto we Sizwe during the struggle against South Africa under apartheid.^[4] Today, Motlanthe, a left-leaning intellectual, is seen as a highly skilled political operator within the politics of South Africa, and a key figure behind the success of Jacob Zuma.^[5][6] Motlanthe also holds the status of having been South Africa's first Tswana-speaking president.^[7]

Early life[link]

Motlanthe was born on 19 July 1949 in Alexandra township, Johannesburg, the son of a mineworker^[8] and a garment worker, Sophie Motlanthe.^[9] He attended the Anglican Missionary school now known as Pholoso Primary and matriculated from Orlando High School in Meadowlands, Soweto after his family was forcibly removed there in 1959.^[9] The formative influence in his early years was the Anglican Church.^[10] He served as an altar boy for many years and at one point thought of becoming a priest.

In the 1970s, while working for the Johannesburg City Council, he was recruited into Umkhonto we Sizwe, the military wing of the ANC. He formed part of a unit tasked with recruiting comrades for military training.^[11] On 14 April 1976, he was arrested for furthering the aims of the ANC and was kept in detention for 11 months at John Vorster Square in central Johannesburg. In 1977 he was found guilty of three charges under the Terrorism Act and sentenced to an effective 10 years imprisonment on Robben Island, from 1977 to 1987.^[12][13] According to the 1977 Survey of Race Relations: "they were alleged to have undergone training for sabotage, promoted ANC activities, and received explosives for sabotage. All pleaded not guilty. Mr Justice Human found Nkosi and Mothlanthe [sic] guilty and sentenced them to effective jail sentences of 10 years each. Mosoeu was acquitted."

On his years in prison:

"We were a community of people who ranged from the totally illiterate to people who could very easily have been professors at universities. We shared basically everything. The years out there were the most productive years in one's life, we were able to read, we read all the material that came our way, took an interest in the lives of people even in the remotest corners of this world. To me those years gave meaning to life."^[10]

— Kgalema Motlanthe

Shortly after his release he was elected Secretary-General of the National Union of Mineworkers. In January 1992 the Central Executive Committee elected him acting General Secretary in January over Marcel Golding, and in 1997 he was elected Secretary-General of the ANC, replacing Cyril Ramaphosa.^[8] He is married with two daughters and a son.^[12]

In Parliament[link]

Motlanthe was elected Deputy President of the African National Congress at the party's 52nd National Conference in Polokwane in December 2007, defeating the Mbeki camp's choice of Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma.^[14] The new ANC leadership, dominated by supporters of Jacob Zuma, applied pressure on President Thabo Mbeki to appoint Motlanthe to the cabinet. He became a Member of Parliament in May 2008^[15] and in July was appointed to the cabinet by Mbeki as Minister without Portfolio. This was seen as a step towards a smooth transition to a future Zuma government.^[16][17]

Following a resolution by the ANC National Executive Commission to "recall" Mbeki from the presidency, Mbeki announced his resignation on 20 September 2008. On 23 September, Nathi Mthethwa, the ANC's Chief Whip, announced that Mbeki's resignation would take effect on 25 September 2008, and ANC President Jacob Zuma said that his deputy, Kgalema Motlanthe, would become president until the 2009 general election: "I am convinced – if given that responsibility – he (Motlanthe) would be equal to the task."^[18][19]

Presidency[link]

On 25 September 2008, Kgalema Motlanthe was elected by Parliament as the third post-apartheid President of South Africa. The Chief Justice, Pius Langa, announced Motlanthe's election after a secret parliamentary ballot contested between Motlanthe and Joe Seremane from the opposition Democratic Alliance.^[20] In the ballot, Motlanthe gained 269 votes from the 351 cast.^[21]

Motlanthe has expressed his desire to address AIDS in South Africa using conventional scientific approaches. He appointed Barbara Hogan to replace Mbeki's health minister Manto Tshabalala-Msimang, who had denounced anti-retroviral drugs as poisons and advised the use of olive oil, garlic, and beetroot by HIV-positive persons.^[22] In early March 1998 he led the ANC's charge against the Medicines Control Council for refusing to allow the testing of Virodene on human subjects. He suggested that the MCC was acting under the sway of rival pharmaceutical manufacturers^[10] saying "I surmise that the council is driven by other interests than concern for proper control of medicines".

Motlanthe caused some controversy in South Africa when he did not reinstate the Head of the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA), Vusi Pikoli in December 2008.^[23]

President Motlanthe gave his first and only State of the Nation Address on 6 February 2009.^[24]

Personal[link]

Motlanthe is separated from his wife Mapula Motlanthe, a radiographer who used to work at Leratong Hospital in Mogale City. They were separated before he became President of South Africa.^[25][26] He and his girlfriend businesswoman Gugu Mtshali, will reportedly move into a "Bali-style" rented mansion in Houghton, Gauteng.^[27]

See also[link]

• Cabinet of Kgalema Motlanthe

Notes[link]

External links[link]

• Official profile at the presidency site
• "ANC Policy won't change"
• Who is Kgalema Motlanthe?
• Kgalema Motlanthe at Who's Who Southern Africa

Kgalema Motlanthe v t e African National Congress Leaders Secretary-General 1912–1915 S. T. Plaatje 1915–1917 R. V. S. Thema 1917–1919 S. Msane 1919–1923 H.L. Bud-M'belle 1923–1927 T. D. Mweli-Skota 1927–1930 E. J. Khaile 1930–1936 E. Mdolomba 1936–1949 J. A. Calata 1949–1955 W. M. U. Sisulu 1955–1958 O. R. Tambo 1958–1969 P. P. D. Nokwe 1969–1991 A. B. Nzo 1991–1997 M. C. Ramaphosa 1997–2007 K. Motlanthe 2007–present G. Mantashe President 1912–1917 J. L. Dube 1917–1924 S. M. Makgatho 1924–1927 Z. R. Mahabane 1927–1930 J. T. Gumede 1930–1936 P. ka Isaka Seme 1937–1940 Z. R. Mahabane 1940–1949 A. B. Xuma 1949–1952 J. S. Moroka 1952–1967 A. J. Lutuli 1967–1991 O. R. Tambo 1991–1997 N. R. Mandela 1997–2007 T. M. Mbeki 2007–present J. G. Zuma Deputy President 1952–1958 N. R. Mandela 1958–1985 O. R. Tambo 1985–1991 N. R. Mandela 1991–1994 W. M. U. Sisulu 1994–1997 T. M. Mbeki 1997–2007 J. G. Zuma 2007–present K. Motlanthe National Conferences 38th (1949) 39th (1950) 40th (1951) 41st (1952) 42nd (1953) 43rd (1954) 44th (1955) 45th (1957) 46th (1958) 47th (1959) 48th (1991) 49th (1994) 50th (1997) 51st (2002) 52nd (2007) Structure and wings ANC Women's League ANC Youth League National Executive Committee Umkhonto we Sizwe Progressive ANC Voters Network Related organizations Congress of South African Trade Unions South African Communist Party v t e Ministers of Thabo Mbeki's second government (2004-2008) Deputy President Jacob Zuma (2004-2005) • Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka (2005-2008) Ministers Thoko Didiza (2004-2006) / Lulama Xingwana (2006-2008) (Agriculture and Land Affairs) • Pallo Jordan (Arts and Culture) • Ivy Matsepe-Casaburri (Communications) • Ngconde Balfour (Correctional Services) • Mosiuoa Lekota (Defence) • Naledi Pandor (Education) • Marthinus van Schalkwyk (Environmental Affairs and Tourism) • Trevor Manuel (Finance) • Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma (Foreign Affairs) • Manto Tshabalala-Msimang (Health) • Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula (Home Affairs) • Lindiwe Sisulu (Housing) • Ronnie Kasrils (Intelligence Services) • Brigitte Mabandla (Justice and Constitutional Development) • Membathisi Mdladlana (Labour) • Buyelwa Sonjica (Minerals and Energy) • Sydney Mufamadi (Provincial and Local Government) • Alex Erwin (Public Enterprises) • Geraldine Fraser-Moleketi (Public Service and Administration) • Charles Nqakula (Safety and Security) • Mosibudi Mangena (Science and Technology) • Zola Skweyiya (Social Development) • Makhenkesi Stofile (Sport and Recreation) • Essop Pahad (The Presidency) • Mandisi Mpahlwa (Trade and Industry) • Jeff Radebe (Transport) • Lindiwe Hendricks (Water Affairs and Forestry) • Kgalema Motlanthe (2008) (Without portfolio) v t e Head of State of South Africa Union of South Africa George V Edward VIII George VI Elizabeth II 1961 Constitution (ceremonial) Charles Robberts Swart Theophilus Ebenhaezer Dönges Jozua François Naudé* Jacobus Johannes Fouché Johannes de Klerk* Nicolaas Johannes Diederichs Marais Viljoen* B. J. Vorster Marais Viljoen 1983 Constitution (executive) Pieter Willem Botha Chris Heunis* Pieter Willem Botha Frederik Willem de Klerk 1996 Constitution (executive) Nelson Mandela Thabo Mbeki Kgalema Motlanthe Jacob Zuma ^* acting v t e Ministers of Kgalema Motlanthe's government (2008-2009) Deputy President Baleka Mbete Ministers Lulama Xingwana (Agriculture and Land Affairs) • Pallo Jordan (Arts and Culture) • Ivy Matsepe-Casaburri/Manto Tshabalala-Msimang (Communications) • Ngconde Balfour (Correctional Services) • Charles Nqakula (Defence) • Naledi Pandor (Education) • Marthinus van Schalkwyk (Environmental Affairs and Tourism) • Trevor Manuel (Finance) • Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma (Foreign Affairs) • Barbara Hogan (Health) • Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula (Home Affairs) • Lindiwe Sisulu (Housing) • Siyabonga Cwele (Intelligence Services) • Enver Surty (Justice and Constitutional Development) • Membathisi Mdladlana (Labour) • Buyelwa Sonjica (Minerals and Energy) • Manto Tshabalala-Msimang (The Presidency) • Sicelo Shiceka (Provincial and Local Government) • Brigitte Mabandla (Public Enterprises) • Richard Baloyi (Public Service and Administration) • Geoff Doidge (Public Works) • Nathi Mthethwa (Safety and Security) • Mosibudi Mangena (Science and Technology) • Zola Skweyiya (Social Development) • Makhenkesi Stofile (Sport and Recreation) • Mandisi Mpahlwa (Trade and Industry) • Jeff Radebe (Transport) • Lindiwe Hendricks (Water Affairs and Forestry) v t e Ministers of Jacob Zuma's first government (2009) Deputy President Kgalema Motlanthe Ministers Tina Joemat-Peterson (Agriculture, Forestry, and Fisheries) Lulu Xingwana (Arts and Culture) Angie Motshekga (Basic Education) Siphiwe Nyanda (Communications) Sicelo Shiceka (Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs) Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula (Correctional Services) Lindiwe Sisulu (Defence and Military Veterans) Ebrahim Patel (Economic Development) Dipuo Peters (Energy) Pravin Gordhan (Finance) Aaron Motsoaledi (Health) Blade Nzimande (Higher Education and Training) Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma (Home Affairs) Tokyo Sexwale (Human Settlements) Maite Nkoana-Mashabane (International Relations and Cooperation) Jeff Radebe (Justice and Constitutional Development) Membathisi Mdladlana (Labour) Susan Shabangu (Mining) Nathi Mthethwa (Police) Barbara Hogan (Public Enterprises) Richard Baloyi (Public service and Administration) Geoff Doidge (Public Works) Gugile Nkwinti (Rural Development and Land Reform) Naledi Pandor (Science and Technology) Edna Molewa (Social Development) Makhenkesi Stofile (Sport and Recreation) Siyabonga Cwele (State Security) Trevor Manuel (The Presidency, for the National Planning Commission) Collins Chabane (The Presidency) Marthinus van Schalkwyk (Tourism) Rob Davies (Trade and Industry) S'bu Ndebele (Transport) Buyelwa Sonjica (Water and Environmental Affairs) Noluthando Mayende-Sibiya (Women, Youth, Children, and People with Disabilities) v t e Ministers of Jacob Zuma's second government (2010) Deputy President Kgalema Motlanthe Ministers Tina Joemat-Peterson (Agriculture, Forestry, and Fisheries) Paul Mashatile (Arts and Culture) Angie Motshekga (Basic Education) Radhakrishna Padayachie (Communications) Sicelo Shiceka (Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs) Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula (Correctional Services) Lindiwe Sisulu (Defence and Military Veterans) Ebrahim Patel (Economic Development) Dipuo Peters (Energy) Pravin Gordhan (Finance) Aaron Motsoaledi (Health) Blade Nzimande (Higher Education and Training) Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma (Home Affairs) Tokyo Sexwale (Human Settlements) Maite Nkoana-Mashabane (International Relations and Cooperation) Jeff Radebe (Justice and Constitutional Development) Mildred Oliphant (Labour) Susan Shabangu (Mining) Nathi Mthethwa (Police) Malusi Gigaba (Public Enterprises) Richard Baloyi (Public service and Administration) Gwen Mahlangu-Nkabinde (Public Works) Gugile Nkwinti (Rural Development and Land Reform) Naledi Pandor (Science and Technology) Bathabile Dlamini (Social Development) Fikile Mbalula (Sport and Recreation) Siyabonga Cwele (State Security) Trevor Manuel (The Presidency, for the National Planning Commission) Collins Chabane (The Presidency) Marthinus van Schalkwyk (Tourism) Rob Davies (Trade and Industry) S'bu Ndebele (Transport) Edna Molewa (Water and Environmental Affairs) Lulu Xingwana (Women, Youth, Children, and People with Disabilities)

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Tasneem Essop, former Provincial Minister of Environment, Planning and Economic Development in the Western Cape^[1] and was responsible for the Department of Environmental Affairs and Development Planning (DEADP) and the Department of Economic Development, as well as the Western Cape Investment and Trade Promotion Agency, Wesgro and the Western Cape Nature Conservation Board, CapeNature.

As of 25 September 2008, Ms. Essop is employed by World Wide Fund for Nature in South Africa^[2] as International Climate Policy Advocate. Essop focuses on WWF’s Global Climate Deal Network Initiative. The aim of the Initiative is to secure a binding multilateral agreement, by the end of 2009 that sets the world on a path to reduce greenhouse gas emissions to 80% below 1990 levels by 2050

Prior to 1994 she was an anti-Apartheid activist involved in youth, union and gender organisations. An educator by profession, she started her career in 1985, teaching English, History and Guidance at Glendale Senior Secondary in Mitchell’s Plain, Western Cape.

Even though her teaching career appeared to be brief, she left the secondary school in 1988, her love for education continued to play a dominant role in her career.

Ms. Essop worked as an Education Officer for the British Council for two years before taking up a post as Education and Media Officer at the South African Municipal Workers Union. She went on to become Cosatu’s Regional Education Officer a position which she held from 1992 to 1994.

After the first democratic elections in 1994 she became an ANC Member of the Provincial Legislature (MPL) where she served as the ANC’s Western Cape Spokesperson on Finance & Public Accounts.

During this period in opposition Ms. Essop became the Chairperson of the Provincial Standing Committee on Finance (SCOPA) which exercised financial oversight over the Executive and went on to become a Founding Member and Chairperson of the national Association of Public Accounts Committees (APAC) in South Africa.

In 2001 she was appointed as Western Cape Provincial Minister of Transport, Public Works & Property Management. In May 2004, she was appointed as Provincial Minister of Environmental Affairs and Development Planning.

In this portfolio she has been a staunch promoter of sustainable development and has piloted a number of new policies for the province, such as the Provincial Spatial Development Framework (PSDF), a Climate Change Response Strategy, a Sustainable Energy Strategy (SES) and Guidelines for Golf Estates, Polo Fields and Polo Estates.

She has also lectured on a number of international stages on matters such as the impacts of climate change, protecting the Cape’s unique biodiversity and, more recently, has become recognised as a renewable energy champion.

She was recently invited as a guest speaker to the Latin America and Caribbean Conference on Climate Change and visited Cuba where she met with the Deputy Minister of Science, Technology and Environment and leading biodiversity and climate change experts.

Essop is well known for saying that 'climate change is a poverty issue'.

Ms. Essop is also the leader of Provincial Government delegation in the Provincial Development Council (PDC), a social dialogue institution consisting of government, labour, civil society and business.

After the Western Cape experienced electricity shortages in 2006 Premier Rasool initiated the Energy Risk Management Committee (a broad stakeholder forum). This body, which was reactivated in 2008, is chaired by Ms. Essop and has been responsible for reducing electricity consumption, promoting energy efficiency and alternative sources of energy in the Western Cape.

References[link]