1. Parks Tau served as a Member of the National Assembly of South Africa from 2023 until his defeat in 2024, representing the African National Congress, however he later returned to Parliament in 2024.
22 Facts About Parks Tau
1. 2.
Parks Tau lost the mayoralty to the DA's Herman Mashaba in a historic defeat on 22 August 2016.
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Parks Tau was born in Orlando West, a neighbourhood of Soweto, on 6 June 1970.
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Parks Tau was later elected president of the Student Representative Council at Pace Commercial College.
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In 1989, at the age of 19, Parks Tau was elected president of the Soweto Youth Congress, and later he became a member of the African National Congress Youth League.
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Parks Tau was 24 years old when he was elected regional secretary of the ANC in Johannesburg and in 1996, he went on to serve on the Southern Metropolitan Local Council's Urban Development Committee.
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In 2000, Parks Tau was appointed as a Member of the Mayoral Committee of Johannesburg, overseeing the portfolios of Developmental Planning, Transportation, and Environment from 2000 to 2003, as well as the Finance and Economic Development portfolio between 2003 and 2011.
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At the time, Parks Tau was the MMC responsible for treasury and was responsible for the awarding of the contract.
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Parks Tau subsequently took up the position of leader of the opposition in council.
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At the ANC's provincial conference in July 2018, Parks Tau was elected as the provincial treasurer of the party.
11.
Shortly afterwards, Parks Tau was appointed as Deputy Minister of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs in the cabinet of Cyril Ramaphosa.
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Parks Tau was the only deputy minister appointed to not be a Member of Parliament.
13.
In December 2020, Gauteng premier David Makhura announced a reshuffle of his provincial executive, in which Parks Tau was appointed as Member of the Executive Council for Economic Development.
14.
Parks Tau resigned from the National Executive to be sworn in as a member of the Gauteng Provincial Legislature to take up the position.
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Parks Tau was not elected to the ANC Provincial Elective Committee, which led to speculation that he would be removed from the Executive Council.
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Parks Tau was made chairperson of the legislature's Finance Committee.
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Parks Tau was elected to the National Executive Committee of the African National Congress at the party's 55th National Conference in December 2022.
18.
On 26 January 2023, it was announced that Parks Tau would be sworn in as a member of the National Assembly of South Africa amid speculation that he would be appointed to cabinet as a minister.
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On 1 February 2023, Parks Tau was replaced as chairperson of the Gauteng legislature's Finance Committee after he had resigned from the provincial legislature.
20.
Parks Tau was sworn in as a Member of Parliament on 6 February 2023.
21.
Parks Tau was defeated for re-election in the 2024 South African general election, however was later brought back to Parliament due to the resignation of Cyril Ramaphosa.
22.
On 10 December 2011 and 1 December 2012, Parks Tau hosted a birthday party called the Every Child Birthday Party, which is a party hosted for children who may suffer from a range of vulnerabilities, including disabilities and being orphaned.