{"id":286992,"date":"2018-11-26T09:43:28","date_gmt":"2018-11-26T07:43:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/?p=286992"},"modified":"2018-11-26T12:22:52","modified_gmt":"2018-11-26T10:22:52","slug":"south-african-party-leader-qualifications-anc-vs-da-vs-eff","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/government\/286992\/south-african-party-leader-qualifications-anc-vs-da-vs-eff\/","title":{"rendered":"South African party leader qualifications: ANC vs DA vs EFF"},"content":{"rendered":"

[The article has been updated to clarify the qualifications in DA leadership]<\/em><\/p>\n

The DA’s chief whip, John Steenhuisen, has been thrust into the limelight following weekend reports that he has no qualification higher than matric.<\/p>\n

The party’s political opponents took to social media platforms to deride and mock the DA whip as the qualifications among the country’s political leaders has been a point of contestation for some time, particularly through the Jacob Zuma years.<\/p>\n

The national government has on several occasions faced strong criticism for appointing ministers and deputy ministers where they have no formal education relating to the portfolios they oversee – while misrepresentation of qualifications has led to some politicians losing their jobs.<\/p>\n

The DA, in particular, has been vociferous in matters relating to qualifications, having, in the past, called for those in government to be replaced because they only have a matric-level education<\/a><\/strong>.<\/p>\n

The party also boldly displays the many qualifications of its leaders in the various profiles on its website.<\/p>\n

Responding to the criticism geared towards Steenhuisen, many in DA leadership have said that the chief whip’s experience and demeanour make up for his lack of tertiary qualification.<\/p>\n

Critics have called this defence hypocritical.<\/p>\n

Steenhuisen argued that the Constitution makes provision for ordinary South Africans to be elected to Parliament, and be part of the lawmakers and represent the people.<\/p>\n

He rejected the notion that he was uneducated, and said that\u00a0over the past 20 years, he’s had in-service training and done vocational courses in municipal finance, ethics, and legislative process including African economics.<\/p>\n

Ha also said that requiring degrees to be part of Parliament would lead to a situation where the political sphere would only be open to a small elite –\u00a0a very small percentage of South Africans who can afford to get university qualifications – locking out the vast majority from having a say in decisions that affect them.<\/p>\n

SA leaders’ qualifications – including chief whips<\/strong><\/p>\n

Looking at South Africa’s three major parties, the majority of leaders have formal tertiary qualifications.<\/p>\n

Among the chief whips, however, only the EFF’s Floyd Shivambu (who is also the party’s deputy president) has a degree. ANC chief whip Jackson Mthembu was a student activist in his youth, and was expelled from the University of Fort Hare.<\/p>\n

A chief whip’s role has little to do with the running of government aside from being a political role in parliament to lead a party’s caucus. It typically involves ensuring MPs are present and vote in line with party mandates.<\/p>\n

They also take the lead in parliamentary debates. Chief whip salaries are over R1.2 million per annum.<\/p>\n

These are the party leaders’ qualifications, which are in the public domain. Only the party leaders that form part of the national executive are listed.<\/p>\n

\n

African National Congress<\/strong><\/p>\n

The ANC’s leadership has well documented qualifications among its ranks. No data could be found for deputy SG Jesse Duarte.<\/p>\n

\n
\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
Member<\/th>\nPosition<\/th>\nQualification<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n
Cyril Ramaphosa<\/td>\nPresident<\/td>\nBProc<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
David Mabuza<\/td>\nDeputy President<\/td>\nBA Education<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Gwede Mantashe<\/td>\nNational Chairperson<\/td>\nBCom Honours, Masters, MBA<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Ace Magashule<\/td>\nSecretary General<\/td>\nBA Arts<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Jessie Duarte<\/td>\nDeputy Secretary General<\/td>\nNo Data<\/em><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Paul Mashatile<\/td>\nTreasurer General<\/td>\nPost Graduate Diploma in Economic Principles<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Jackson Mthembu<\/td>\nChief Whip<\/td>\nMatric, (expelled from University of Fort Hare)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table><\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\n

Democratic Alliance<\/strong><\/p>\n

The DA displays its leaders’ qualifications on their profiles.<\/p>\n

Deputy federal chair Natasha Mazzone has clarified that she was studying towards a law degree at the University of Pretoria, but never completed the degree. She completed 5 years of articles while studying part time, but started her career in politics before completing the degree.<\/p>\n

\n
\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
Member<\/th>\nPosition<\/th>\nQualification<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n
Mmusi Maimane<\/td>\nFederal Leader<\/td>\nMaster\u2019s Degree in Theology, Master\u2019s Degree in Public Administration<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Athol Trollip<\/td>\nFederal Chairperson<\/td>\nDegree in Agricultural Management<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Refilo Nt’sekhe<\/td>\nDeputy Federal Chairperson<\/td>\nDegree in Politics and Philosophy, Post-Graduate Diploma in Marketing<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Michael Waters<\/td>\nDeputy Federal Chairperson<\/td>\nDiploma in Human Resources<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Ivan Meyer<\/td>\nDeputy Federal Chairperson<\/td>\nPh.D in Public Administration<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
James Selfe<\/td>\nFederal Council Chairperson<\/td>\nMaster of Arts<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Thomas Walters<\/td>\nDeputy Federal Council Chairperson<\/td>\nDegree in Political Science<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Natasha Mazzone<\/td>\nDeputy Federal Council Chairperson<\/td>\nMatric (never completed law degree)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Dion George<\/td>\nFederal Finance Chairperson<\/td>\nBA Honours, MBA, DBL Economics<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
John Steenhuisen<\/td>\nChief Whip<\/td>\nMatric<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table><\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\n

Economic Freedom Fighters<\/strong><\/p>\n

The EFF’s leadership has made headlines for their academic achievements in recent years. No data could be found for deputy SG Hlengiwe Maxon or treasurer Leigh-Ann Mathys. Most recently, SG Godrich Gardee achieved his LLB.<\/p>\n

\n
\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
Member<\/th>\nPosition<\/th>\nQualification<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n
Julius Malema<\/td>\nPresident<\/td>\nBA Honours in Philosophy, Diploma in Youth Development<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Floyd Shivambu<\/td>\nDeputy President<\/td>\nMasters in Political Studies, Honours Degree in International Relations<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Godrich Gardee<\/td>\nSecretary General<\/td>\nLLB, Higher National Diploma in Accounting and Auditing<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Hlengiwe Maxon<\/td>\nDeputy Secretary General<\/td>\nNo Data<\/em><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Leigh-Ann Mathys<\/td>\nTreasurer<\/td>\nNo Data<\/em><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Dali Mpofu<\/td>\nNational Chairperson<\/td>\nBProc, LLB<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table><\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\n

Read:\u00a0New qualifications register to target South Africans that lie on their CVs<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The DA’s chief whip, John Steenhuisen, has been thrust into the spotlight following weekend reports that he has no qualification higher than matric.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":122533,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[23],"tags":[26],"class_list":["post-286992","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-government","tag-headline"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/286992","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/10"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=286992"}],"version-history":[{"count":13,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/286992\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":287098,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/286992\/revisions\/287098"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/122533"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=286992"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=286992"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=286992"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}