Butana Moses Komphela was a South African politician who represented the African National Congress in the National Assembly and Free State Provincial Legislature until 2019.
16 Facts About Butana Komphela
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Butana Komphela served as the Chairperson of the Portfolio Committee on Sports, Arts and Culture and after that he held several positions in the Free State Executive Council from 2011 to 2019.
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Butana Komphela died of COVID-19-related illness in 2022 during the COVID-19 pandemic in South Africa.
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Butana Komphela was the elder brother of Steve Komphela, the former coach of Mamelodi Sundowns.
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Butana Komphela was elected to a full term in the assembly in the 2004 general election.
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Butana Komphela rose to public prominence as the Chairperson of the Portfolio Committee on Sports, Arts and Culture, a position to which he was elected in June 2004.
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Butana Komphela was re-elected to his seat in the National Assembly in the 2009 general election, but he left Parliament in June 2011 when he was appointed to the Free State Executive Council in a reshuffle by Premier Ace Magashule.
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Butana Komphela joined Magashule's provincial government as the Free State's Member of the Executive Council for Police, Roads and Transport; he filled a vacancy that had arisen from Thabo Manyoni's resignation.
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Butana Komphela served in that position for over five years and, in the middle of that period, he secured re-election to the Free State Provincial Legislature in the 2014 general election; he was ranked fifth on the ANC's provincial party list.
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In October 2016, Magashule announced a reshuffle that saw Butana Komphela replace Benny Malakoane as MEC for Health.
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Butana Komphela retained that portfolio for the rest of Magashule's premiership and into the term of Magashule's successor, Premier Sisi Ntombela.
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Butana Komphela did not seek re-election to the Free State Provincial Legislature in the 2019 general election and he therefore dropped out of the Executive Council after the election.
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On 6 January 2019, Butana Komphela was involved in a traffic accident on the road from Theunissen to Bloemfontein.
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One of the passengers in the other car died at the scene and Butana Komphela was charged with culpable homicide.
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Butana Komphela was found guilty on 22 November 2021 and the Brandfort Magistrate's Court sentenced him to three years' imprisonment; the sentence was suspended for five years on the condition that Komphela did not commit a similar offence during the period of suspension.
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In December 2021, Butana Komphela was admitted to hospital in Bloemfontein, where he received treatment for COVID-19-related illness, complicated by a pre-existing lung condition.