20 Facts About Casca Mokitlane

Modise Casalis "Casca" Mokitlane was born on 17 September 1951 and is a former politician and diplomat from South Africa who served in the Free State Provincial Legislature from 1999 until 2014.

Casca Mokitlane is a former Deputy Provincial Chairperson of the African National Congress and is known for his short-lived defection to the opposition Congress of the People between 2009 and 2014.

Casca Mokitlane was Majority Chief Whip in the provincial legislature between 2004 and 2005.

Simultaneously, Casca Mokitlane served two terms as ANC Deputy Provincial Chairperson in the Free State from 1998 to 2005; he deputised longstanding Provincial Chairperson Ace Magashule, with whom he was believed to have an unhappy relationship, and he lost the deputy chair in 2005 after attempting to unseat Magashule.

In February 2009, Casca Mokitlane announced that he had resigned from the provincial government and from the ANC in order to join COPE, a new breakaway party.

Casca Mokitlane became COPE's candidate for election as Premier of the Free State in the 2009 general election.

Thereafter Casca Mokitlane retreated from frontline politics and, following a four-year tour as South Africa's High Commissioner to Singapore, he retired in 2021.

Casca Mokitlane was born on 17 September 1951 in Vredefort in the former Orange Free State.

However, in a cabinet reshuffle on 28 June 2001, Casca Mokitlane was fired from the Executive Council and replaced by Benny Kotsoane; his sacking confirmed reports, published earlier that year, that Direko was planning to replace him.

In late 2003, Casca Mokitlane performed well in internal ANC processes to select candidates for the 2004 general election: he received the highest number of nominations from party branches in the province.

Casca Mokitlane was re-elected to his legislative seat in 2004 and served as Chief Whip of the Majority Party in the provincial legislature from 2004 to 2005.

However, when the party's provincial conference was held on 25 June 2005 in Bloemfontein, Magashule won re-election; Casca Mokitlane was succeeded as Deputy Provincial Chairperson by Pat Matosa and did not secure election to any of the other top leadership positions.

Casca Mokitlane continued as MEC for Agriculture until August 2007, when, in another reshuffle, he was appointed MEC for Education.

On 5 February 2009, Casca Mokitlane announced that he had left the ANC to join the Congress of the People, a newly established breakaway party founded by supporters of former President Thabo Mbeki.

Casca Mokitlane said that he had contacted COPE because of his disillusionment with the ANC and its record in the province, including its abuse of cadre deployment:.

Casca Mokitlane resigned from the Executive Council, from the provincial legislature, and from the ANC; Mxolisi Dukwana took on his education portfolio in an acting capacity.

Casca Mokitlane was therefore listed first on COPE's party list in the provincial election, in which COPE won four seats; although he was not elected Premier, he became the Leader of the Official Opposition in the provincial legislature.

In early April 2014, Casca Mokitlane announced that he had left COPE to rejoin the ANC because he no longer believed that COPE presented "a credible alternative in government".

Casca Mokitlane did not stand for re-election to the provincial legislature in the May 2014 general election.

Casca Mokitlane presented his credentials on 29 November 2017 and served at the High Commission for four years before returning to South Africa, where he retired in Parys in the Free State.