51 Facts About David Mabuza

David Mabuza was the deputy president of the African National Congress from December 2017 to December 2022 and was previously the premier of Mpumalanga from 2009 to 2018, throughout the presidency of his former political ally Jacob Zuma.

David Mabuza was elected to the ANC National Executive Committee for the first time in 2007 and was ANC provincial chairperson in Mpumalanga from 2008 to 2017, throughout his premiership.

At the conference, held in December 2017, David Mabuza was elected Deputy President of the ANC, serving under Cyril Ramaphosa.

When Ramaphosa ascended to the national presidency after Zuma's resignation in February 2018, he appointed David Mabuza to succeed him as national Deputy President.

David Dabede Mabuza was born on 25 August 1960 at Phola near Hazyview in what became Mpumalanga province.

David Mabuza earned a teaching diploma, specialising in mathematics education, from the Mgwenya College of Education in 1985; he was secretary of the Black Consciousness-aligned Azania Student Organisation from 1984 to 1985.

David Mabuza taught at KaNgwane Department of Education from 1986 to 1988 and was Principal of Lungisani Secondary School, in Mpumalanga, from 1989 to 1993.

David Mabuza continued his political engagements: he was chairperson of the National Education Union of South Africa from 1986 to 1988, treasurer of Foundation for Education with Production from 1986 to 1990, and a co-ordinator of the National Education Crisis Committee from 1987 to 1989.

David Mabuza served in that position until 1998, when Phosa fired him after a scandal in which it emerged that the province's 1998 matric results had been fraudulently inflated by twenty percentage points.

Pursuant to the 1999 general election, David Mabuza was elected to the Mpumalanga provincial legislature and was reappointed to the provincial executive under Premier Ndaweni Mahlangu, serving as MEC for Housing between 1999 and 2001.

David Mabuza was Chairperson of the Nelspruit regional branch of the ANC from 1994 to 1998 and a member of the ANC Provincial Executive Committee in Mpumalanga from 1998 to 2006; he became provincial Deputy Chairperson of the ANC in Mpumalanga in 1999 and again in 2005, though in the interim he lost a 2002 election for the position of provincial Secretary.

Ahead of the ANC's so-called Polokwane conference in December 2007, David Mabuza supported Jacob Zuma's successful campaign to replace incumbent Thabo Mbeki as President of the ANC.

At the conference, David Mabuza himself was elected for the first time to the ANC's National Executive Committee, the top executive organ of the party.

David Mabuza's victory was linked in some analyses to his support for Zuma: his predecessor, Makwetla, was one of several pro-Mbeki provincial chairs who were replaced with pro-Zuma figures during that period.

For much of the next decade, David Mabuza held both positions concurrently: he remained Premier until February 2018, and he chaired the ANC in the province until 2017, winning re-election in 2012 despite an attempt to unseat him.

David Mabuza was well known for his initiative to construct a handful of large boarding schools in the province's rural areas.

David Mabuza maintained his support for Zuma, who had been elected as President of South Africa in 2009; he endorsed Zuma for re-election to the ANC presidency ahead of the party's 53rd National Conference, saying, "Hands off our president".

At that conference, held in December 2012, Zuma was re-elected but David Mabuza himself did not secure direct re-election to the ANC National Executive Committee; however, he remained an ex officio member of the committee in his capacity as a provincial chairperson.

Vusi Shongwe acted as Premier while David Mabuza took two months' leave to recover from his illness.

David Mabuza said that he did not have any other relationship with the family and that the favour would not create a conflict of interest.

However, his commitment to the Dlamini-Zuma campaign became less certain as the conference approached, and David Mabuza "play[ed] both sides".

David Mabuza had received strong support for his candidacy for the deputy presidency and the Business Day expected him to be elected as ANC Deputy President regardless of which side prevailed in the presidential race.

David Mabuza had beaten Lindiwe Sisulu, Ramaphosa's running mate, by 2,538 votes to Sisulu's 2,159.

At the conference, David Mabuza had apparently promised the Dlamini-Zuma camp that he would encourage the delegates from his province to vote for her.

In defence, David Mabuza's allies said that he had not promised his support to either candidate: "The only commitment we have is to unity".

Several newspapers reported that David Mabuza had coordinated with Paul Mashatile on his unity campaign, including by lobbying for Mashatile's election as Treasurer-General.

David Mabuza held the deciding delegates, which made him the kingmaker.

David Mabuza was sworn in the following day and was sworn in as a Member of the National Assembly in order to take up the position.

When Ramaphosa was re-elected to a full term as President after the 2019 general election, David Mabuza was re-appointed as Deputy President.

In 2021, David Mabuza took medical leave to receive further medical treatment in Russia, where he remained for more than a month before his return in August.

David Mabuza did not reveal the purpose of the treatment but media speculated that it was related to his alleged poisoning in 2015; when the opposition Democratic Alliance attempted to ask him in the National Assembly whether he had been poisoned, the question was disallowed by Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula, the Speaker.

When questioned further in 2022, David Mabuza said that there was "nothing sinister" about the trip, that its purpose had been medical rather than political, and that it had had no bearing on government policy on energy contracts or the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

David Mabuza's motorcade was in two separate car accidents in 2022.

Ahead of the ANC's 55th National Conference in December 2022, at which Ramaphosa was re-elected as ANC President, David Mabuza campaigned for his own election to the ANC presidency.

However, the campaign did not receive adequate support for David Mabuza to be included on the ballot paper for either the presidency or the deputy presidency positions.

Ramaphosa asked David Mabuza to remain in the position until the transition processes had been concluded.

On 1 March 2023, it was revealed that David Mabuza had resigned as a Member of Parliament the previous day, ending his tenure as deputy president of South Africa.

In 2014, David Mabuza unsuccessfully sued his former boss, Mathews Phosa, for defamation.

David Mabuza said that the document made various incorrect and defamatory claims, including that David Mabuza was a spy for the apartheid police from 1985 to 1993.

David Mabuza has been accused of involvement in political corruption and tender fraud.

David Mabuza has a long-running dispute with Fred Daniel, the owner and developer of a Mpumalanga nature reserve, who claimed that David Mabuza was implicated in fraudulent land scams in the province while MEC.

David Mabuza has said that the various allegations against him are part of a smear campaign by his opponents.

David Mabuza was rumoured to have been involved in political violence in Mpumalanga.

David Mabuza was linked to the assassination of Sammy Mpatlanyane, a government official who was shot in 2010 after he refused to sign off on controversial tenders.

David Mabuza claimed that the charge was politically motivated and an attempt to "harass and intimidate me".

In 2014, two men from Mbombela claimed that they had been members of a "dirty tricks" task team formed by David Mabuza to suppress allegations that he was involved in political killings; they had been offered R3 million and jobs in the government and had been instructed to steal documents from Nkabule.

David Mabuza has consistently denied involvement in the assassinations, and, as of 2022, the allegations had never been prosecuted or proven.

In 2017, ahead of the ANC's 54th National Conference, Mathews Phosa told eNCA that David Mabuza had a "private army" in Mpumalanga.

David Mabuza said the "private army" carried weapons, disrupted ANC meetings, and otherwise sought to intimidate local ANC members who did not support Mabuza's political agenda.

David Mabuza made the allegation in connection with a video that had surfaced of gunmen firing shots recklessly at a gathering, apparently in Mpumalanga; Phosa said that the men were connected to Mabuza.

David Mabuza is married to Nonhlanhla Patience Mnisi, a real estate agent at Pam Golding.