Fikile Mbalula

Fikile April Mbalula (born 8 April 1971) is a South African politician who has been the Secretary-General of the African National Congress (ANC) since December 2022.

Mbalula was born on 8 April 1971 on a farm near Botshabelo, a township outside Bloemfontein in the former Orange Free State.

He grew up in the township and entered politics through the Botshabelo Youth Congress, which he led between 1986 and 1987.

He also joined the local United Democratic Front in 1989.

He was still a teenager when the African National Congress (ANC) was unbanned by the apartheid government in 1990, and later the same year he became active in the ANC's youth structures.

When the ANC Youth League (ANCYL) was re-established inside South Africa, he rose through its ranks, becoming Regional Secretary in 1991 and Provincial Secretary in 1994.

At the same time, he trained in psychotherapy as a counsellor.

In 1996, Mbalula ascended to national office in the ANCYL as the league's secretary for political education.

He held that office until 1998, when he was elected as national Secretary-General of the league, serving under ANCYL President Malusi Gigaba.

He and Gigaba were both re-elected – in Mbalula's case unopposed – in April 2001.

The pair were apparently close confidantes: by 2002, they discussed their political ambitions with other ANCYL members, identifying Mbalula as an ideal future ANC Secretary-General and Gigaba as an ANC President.

The article, entitled "A Hurdle Race Rigged Against the Poor", apparently bore remarkable similarity to a 2002 report by Oxfam.

Mbalula said that he had never read or seen the Oxfam report.

Mbalula rose to national political prominence as the President of the ANC Youth League between 2004 and 2008.

Reportedly in line with Mbalula and Gigaba's plans, Mbalula succeeded Gigaba as ANCYL President at the league's next elective conference, held in Johannesburg in August 2004.

His candidacy was unopposed, and he was viewed as an attractive candidate because he could straddle the league's "old guard" and its new generation of younger students.

During his single term as ANCYL President, Mbalula was also President of the International Union of Socialist Youth in 2004.

Mbalula's presidency elevated him to national prominence and his tenure was controversial.

His politics have been described as populist, and he attracted media attention for his public statements.

His critics accused him of "eroding authority and decorum" in the ANC in a manner that "changed the culture of the league" and set a precedent for his successors.

Also controversial was his close relationship with Brett Kebble, a businessman and prolific political donor.

Mbalula was a pallbearer at Kebble's funeral in 2005, and Kebble's biographer, Mandy Wiener, claimed that Kebble had been Mbalula's political mentor, frequently hosting him – and even coaching him – over Johnnie Walker Blue Label at his home in Atholl, Johannesburg.

Mbalula personally was a member of a trust that co-owned Lembede Investment Holdings, an ANCYL-linked investment company that did business with Kebble.

Mbalula was formerly viewed as a supporter of incumbent President Thabo Mbeki – he was a former protegé of the late ANCYL stalwart Peter Mokaba, who was an Mbeki loyalist – but by early 2005 he had "switched sides" to support Mbeki's deputy and foremost rival, Deputy President Jacob Zuma.

In February 2005, for example, he said publicly that the ANC Women's League was "a bunch of holy cows" whose opposition to Zuma's rise would be judged by "the march of history".

During 2005 and 2006, Mbalula was the figurehead of the ANCYL's support for Zuma during Zuma's corruption trial and rape trial; in particular, he was reportedly the key figure in "orchestrating" the ANCYL's energetic demonstrations outside the courthouse, and he sometimes addressed the crowd there.

An American diplomatic cable, leaked later during Cablegate, claimed that Mbalula had not initially wanted to defend Zuma during his criminal trials but had faced pressure to do so from within the ANCYL.

In any case, Mbalula became "an important 'dog of war'" in Zuma's campaign to be elected as ANC president.

Under Mbalula, the national ANCYL opposed Mbeki's bid for a third term in the ANC presidency; Mbalula said Mbeki had "played his role".

He also said that the league would continue to support Zuma even if he faced further criminal charges.

During this period, he became an outspoken supporter of Jacob Zuma, whom he supported at the ANC's 2007 Polokwane conference.

In April 2008, the Mail & Guardian accused Mbalula of plagiarising an article he wrote for the November 2007 issue of Umrambulo, the ANC newsletter.

At the same conference, he was elected to the ANC National Executive Committee for the first time and became the party's head of elections and organisation, in which capacity he coordinated its campaign in the 2009 general election.

He continued to play a central role in the ANC's subsequent election campaigns.

After Mbalula joined the National Assembly in May 2009, he was appointed as Deputy Minister of Police by Zuma, who was newly elected as President of South Africa.

He was a cabinet minister between 2010 and 2023, most proximately as Minister of Transport from 2019 to 2023.

He went on to serve in Zuma's cabinet as Minister of Sport and Recreation from 2010 to 2017 and as Minister of Police from 2017 to 2018.

He maintained a prominent public profile in both positions, even as his standing in the ANC suffered due to his falling out with Zuma and his unsuccessful bid to be elected as ANC Secretary-General in 2012.

Although he was initially excluded from the cabinet of Zuma's successor, President Cyril Ramaphosa, Mbalula returned as Minister of Transport from May 2019 to March 2023.

He left government in order to take up his full-time position as ANC Secretary-General, which he won at the ANC's 55th National Conference in December 2022.