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Nkholo Victor "Tolly" Mashamaite (born 12 September 1976) is a South African politician from Limpopo. He represented the African National Congress (ANC) in the Limpopo Provincial Legislature between August 2018 and May 2024. He served on the ANC Provincial Executive Committee in Limpopo from 2018 to 2022.

Mashamaite served as the provincial legislature's Chairperson of Committees from May 2019 until August 2021, when he was charged with corruption and stepped aside. In 2023 he was additionally charged with murder in a related political assassination case.

Early life

Mashamaite was born on 12 September 1976.

ANC Waterberg Secretary: 2013–2018

In December 2013, Mashamaite was elected as the Regional Secretary of the ANC's Waterberg regional branch. While he was in that office, in early October 2016, he was arrested and charged in the Mokopane Regional Court; the National Prosecuting Authority alleged that he had raped a woman at a hotel in Mokopone and had subsequently attempted to bribe her R400 to keep quiet about the incident. He was released on R1,000 bail but, at the strong recommendation of the ANC's national leadership and Tripartite Alliance partners, the Limpopo ANC suspended him from his party office. His suspension led to hostility between opposing factions of the party and the ANCs regional offices were ultimately closed indefinitely after a violent confrontation. On 5 December 2016, he was acquitted of the charges against him and was reinstated as ANC Regional Secretary.

In June 2018, Mashamaite was elected to a four-year term as a member of the Provincial Executive Committee of the Limpopo ANC. The following month, he was succeeded as Regional Secretary by Jacob Moabelo.

Provincial legislature: 2018–2024

On 8 August 2018, Mashamaite was sworn in to the Limpopo Provincial Legislature, filling a casual vacancy created when Soviet Lekganyane resigned to take up a full-time party position as ANC Provincial Secretary. He was appointed to chair the legislature's committee on ethics and members' interests. In the 2019 general election, he was elected to his first full term in the provincial legislature, ranked 19th on the ANC's provincial party list. When the legislature sat for the first time, he was named its Chairperson of Committees ("Chair of Chairs"), with Che Selane as his deputy.

In August 2021, the National Prosecuting Authority announced that Mashamaite faced corruption charges relating to multimillion-rand tender irregularities at the Mogalakwena Local Municipality between 2016 and 2019. He and his co-accused – who included former Mogalakwena Mayor Andrina Matsemela and Mashamaite's brother, Jabu Mashmaite, a Mogalakwena municipal employee – were charged with corruption, money laundering, and conspiracy to commit corruption.

While court proceedings were ongoing, the Limpopo ANC announced that it had removed Mashamaite from the Chairperson of Committees position, demoting him to an ordinary Member of the Provincial Legislature; it said the decision was in line with the national party's step-aside rule. At the provincial party's next elective conference, which occurred in June 2022 while Mashamaite was facing the corruption charges, he was not re-elected to the Provincial Executive Committee.

On 6 March 2023, Mashamaite was arrested in Mokopane. He and several others were accused of involvement in the assassination of local politicians Vaaltyn Kekana and Ralph Kanyane, who had been shot dead in July 2019 after Kekana threatened to blow the whistle on corruption in Mogalakwena Local Municipality. Mashamaite was released on bail, and the ANC said that he would serve the rest of his term in his legislative seat. He lost his seat in the next general election in May 2024.

References

1. "Supplemented /Reviewed list of candidate of the Limpopo Provincial Legislature. Items 18 and 19 of the Electoral Laws Amendment Act, 2003 (Act No. 34 of 2003)". Limpopo Provincial Gazette. 25 July 2018. Retrieved 11 July 2024.
2. "ANC Limpopo leader abducted and assaulted". Drum. 21 January 2014. Retrieved 2023-01-24.
3. ^ "ANC man cleared of a rape charge". Sowetan. 11 December 2016. Retrieved 2023-01-24.
4. ^ "Waterberg ANC official gets bail: 'He is not a rapist but a leader'". Polokwane Observer. 2016-10-14. Retrieved 2023-01-24.
5. ^ "ANC at war with itself in Limpopo". Krugersdorp News. 28 November 2016. Retrieved 2023-01-24.
6. "Tolly Mashamaite not guilty of rape, bribery". Polokwane Observer. 2016-12-08. Retrieved 2023-01-24.
7. "Additionals on ANC's new provincial executive announced". Polokwane Observer. 2018-06-26. Retrieved 2023-01-23.
8. "Waterberg sneaks six into PEC". Die Pos. 2018-07-02. Retrieved 2023-01-24.
9. "Morris Mataboge triumphant". Die Pos. 2018-07-16. Retrieved 2023-01-24.
10. "Tolly Mashamaite sworn in as MPL". Die Pos. 2018-08-16. Retrieved 2023-01-24.
11. "Waterberg politician to lead portfolio committee". Die Pos. 2018-09-27. Retrieved 2023-01-24.
12. ^ "Nkholo Victor Mashamaite". People's Assembly. Retrieved 2023-01-24.
13. "Luruli-Ramakhanya is the Speaker of the Limpopo Legislature". Capricorn FM. 2019-05-22. Retrieved 2023-01-24.
14. Singh, Karen (26 October 2021). "Former mayor among municipal officials and service providers in court for corruption". IOL. Retrieved 2023-01-24.
15. ^ Dube, Mpho (2022-08-15). "Limpopo ANC will still enforce step-aside rule". Sunday World. Retrieved 2023-01-24.
16. "Municipal officials and service providers appear in court for corruption". National Prosecuting Authority. 2 June 2021. Retrieved 2023-01-24.
17. "ANC Limpopo yet to replace its chair of chairs". Capricorn FM. 2022-08-11. Retrieved 2023-01-24.
18. "Mashamaite steps aside to deal with pending corruption case". Sowetan. 9 August 2022. Retrieved 2023-01-24.
19. "Smooth sailing at ANC Limpopo's 10th elective conference". Polokwane Observer. 2022-06-10. Retrieved 2023-01-23.
20. Ledwaba, Lucas (2023-03-12). "High drama as plot thickens in Limpopo political murders". Daily Maverick. Retrieved 2024-07-11.
21. "Limpopo ANC member accused of murder released on bail". SABC News. 8 March 2023. Retrieved 11 July 2024.
22. Machaka, Thabiso (2023-03-09). "Tolly Mashamaite to retain ANC MPL position despite recent arrest". Capricorn FM. Retrieved 2024-07-11.

External links

• Mr Nkholo Victor Mashamaite at People's Assembly

• Living people
• Members of the Limpopo Provincial Legislature
• African National Congress politicians
• 21st-century South African politicians
• 1976 births