Firoz Cachalia

Cachalia was born on 22 July 1958 in Benoni in the former Transvaal, now part of Gauteng province.{{Cite web |date=2 September 2019 |title=Firoz Cachalia |url=https://www.sahistory.org.za/people/firoz-cachalia |access-date=2023-01-16 |website=South African History Online}} His brother is Azhar Cachalia, an activist and judge.{{Cite web |date=2009-06-21 |title=Race for Concourt judges |url=https://mg.co.za/article/2009-06-21-race-for-concourt-judges/ |access-date=2023-01-16 |website=The Mail & Guardian |language=en-ZA}} In the late 1970s and 1980s, Cachalia was active in anti-apartheid student politics at Wits University; he was detained several times and banned under the Internal Security Act.{{Cite web |date=2010-08-06 |title='Politics chose us' |url=https://mg.co.za/article/2010-08-06-politics-chose-us/ |access-date=2023-01-16 |website=The Mail & Guardian |language=en-ZA}} He also joined the United Democratic Front. In the early 1990s, he worked as a lawyer at Bell Dewar and Hall and as a researcher at the Centre for Applied Legal Studies; he also represented the Transvaal Indian Congress during negotiations at the Convention for a Democratic South Africa. He holds a Bachelor of Arts and an LLB, and in 1996 he received an LLM from the University of Michigan.{{Cite journal |date=13 July 2012 |title=Media Statement: Appointment of Professor Firoz Cachalia as a non-executive director |url=https://www.resbank.co.za/en/home/publications/publication-detail-pages/media-releases/2012/5088 |journal=South African Reserve Bank |language=english}}

Cachalia first joined the Gauteng Provincial Legislature in 1994 and he ultimately became Speaker of the provincial legislature from 1999 to 2004.{{Cite news |date=8 December 2009 |title=DA Accuses Cachalia of Ducking Tough Questions |work=Business Day |url=https://allafrica.com/stories/200912080267.html |access-date=16 January 2023 |via=allAfrica}} In the legislature he represented the African National Congress; he was also a member of the South African Communist Party.

On 29 April 2004, following the 2004 general election, Cachalia was appointed for the first time to the Gauteng Executive Council; Mbhazima Shilowa, then entering his second term as Premier of Gauteng, appointed him Member of the Executive Council (MEC) for Community Safety.{{Cite web |last=Furness |first=Jenny |date=30 April 2004 |title=Four new faces in Shilowa's team |url=https://www.engineeringnews.co.za/article/four-new-faces-in-shilowas-team-2004-04-30 |access-date=2022-12-29 |website=Engineering News |language=en |agency=SAPA}} He retained that portfolio until the 2009 general election, throughout Shilowa's second term and the brief tenure of Shilowa's successor, Paul Mashatile.{{Cite web |date=7 October 2008 |title=Paul Mashatile's inauguration address |url=https://www.politicsweb.co.za/documents/paul-mashatiles-inauguration-address |access-date=2022-12-29 |website=Politicsweb |language=en}} From May 2009, under newly elected Premier Nomvula Mokonyane, Cachalia was MEC for Economic Development, a newly created portfolio.{{Cite web |date=13 May 2009 |title=Gauteng Department of Community Safety welcomes new MEC |url=https://www.gov.za/gauteng-department-community-safety-welcomes-new-mec-elias-khabisi-mosunkutu |access-date=2022-12-29 |website=South African Government}} However, he was fired from the Executive Council in a cabinet reshuffle announced by Mokonyane on 2 November 2010.{{Cite web |date=2 November 2010 |title=Premier Nomvula Mokonyane announces new Gauteng Cabinet |url=https://www.gov.za/premier-nomvula-mokonyane-announces-new-gauteng-cabinet |access-date=2022-12-29 |website=South African Government}}

On 13 July 2025, he was appointed as the national Minister of Police, replacing Senzo Mchunu, in an acting capacity.

Following his time in provincial government, Cachalia subsequently became a professor at the Wits University School of Law. In July 2012, President Jacob Zuma appointed him to a three-year term as non-executive director on the board of the South African Reserve Bank.{{Cite web |date=2012-07-16 |title=Firoz Cachalia appointed Sarb nonexec director |url=https://www.moneyweb.co.za/archive/firoz-cachalia-appointed-sarb-nonexec-director/ |access-date=2023-01-16 |website=Moneyweb |language=en}} In September 2022, Cachalia began a three-year term as chairperson of the National Anti-Corruption Advisory Council, a body newly created by Zuma's successor, President Cyril Ramaphosa, to prevent and eradicate corruption and state capture, including by guiding the government's response to the findings of the Zondo Commission.{{Cite news |date=2022-08-29 |title=South Africa Names Firoz Cachalia Head of New Anti-Graft Council |language=en |work=Bloomberg |url=https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2022-08-29/south-africa-names-firoz-cachalia-head-of-new-anti-graft-council |access-date=2023-01-16}}{{Cite web |date=29 August 2022 |title=Firoz Cachalia to chair Ramaphosa's anticorruption advisory council |url=https://www.businesslive.co.za/bd/national/2022-08-29-firoz-cachalia-to-chair-ramaphosas-anticorruption-advisory-council/ |access-date=2023-01-16 |website=Business Day |language=en-ZA}} He also served until December 2022 as a member of the National Executive Committee of his political party, the ANC; he was co-opted onto the body in October 2019.{{Cite web |last=Feketha |first=Siviwe |date=2 October 2019 |title=Blade Nzimande returns to ANC NEC |url=https://www.iol.co.za/news/blade-nzimande-returns-to-anc-nec-33869310 |access-date=2023-01-08 |website=IOL |language=en}}

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Category:Living people

Category:1958 births

Category:African National Congress politicians

Category:University of Michigan Law School alumni

Category:Members of the Gauteng Provincial Legislature

Category:Legislative speakers in South Africa

Category:South African politicians of Indian descent