Max Sisulu
{{Short description|South African politician (born 1945)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=October 2019}}
{{Use South African English|date=January 2015}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| name = Max Sisulu
| image = Max Sisulu (1985).jpg
| caption = Sisulu in 1985
| order = 4th
| office = Speaker of the National Assembly of South Africa
| president = Jacob Zuma
| term_start = 6 May 2009
| term_end = 21 May 2014
| deputy = Nomaindia Mfeketo
| predecessor = Gwen Mahlangu-Nkabinde
| successor = Baleka Mbete
| office2 = Chief Whip of the Majority Party
| term_start2 = February 1997
| term_end2 = November 1998
| predecessor2 = Makhenkesi Stofile
| successor2 = Tony Yengeni
| office3 = Member of the National Assembly
| term_start3 = 6 May 2009
| term_end3 = 29 May 2014
| term_start4 = 26 April 1994
| term_end4 = November 1998
| birth_date = {{Birth date and age|df=yes|1945|08|23}}
| birth_place = Soweto, Transvaal
Union of South Africa
| death_date =
| death_place =
| party = African National Congress
| spouse = {{marriage|Mercy Vutela|1966|1967|reason=divorce}}
{{marriage|Elinor Sisulu|1986}}
| parents = {{Flatlist|
| partner =
| relations = {{flatlist |
- Zwelakhe Sisulu (brother)
- Lindiwe Sisulu (sister)
- Mlungisi Sisulu (brother)
}}
| children = 5, including Shaka
| residence =
| alma_mater =
| occupation =
| profession =
| cabinet =
| committees =
| portfolio =
| religion =
| signature =
| signature_alt =
| website =
| footnotes =
| birth_name = Max Vuyisile Sisulu
}}
Max Vuyisile Sisulu (born 23 August 1945) is a South African politician and businessman who was Speaker of the National Assembly from May 2009 to May 2014. A member of the African National Congress (ANC), he was a member of the party's National Executive Committee from December 1994 to December 2017.
Born in Soweto, Sisulu is the son of anti-apartheid activists Albertina and Walter Sisulu. Between 1963 and 1990, at the height of apartheid, he lived outside of South Africa with the exiled ANC and its military wing, Umkhonto we Sizwe. An economist by training, he was the ANC's head of economic planning from 1986 to 1990, and he remained influential in ANC economic policymaking in subsequent decades.
In April 1994, in South Africa's first democratic elections, Sisulu was elected to represent the ANC in the National Assembly, the lower house of the new South African Parliament. For much of the First Parliament, he was the chairperson of the Portfolio Committee on the Reconstruction and Development Programme (RDP). Then, from February 1997 to November 1998, he served as Chief Whip of the Majority Party. However, he resigned from his seat in November 1998 to work in business, first at Denel and later at Sasol.
He did not return to Parliament until the April 2009 general election, pursuant to which he was elected as the Speaker. He was the first man to serve as Speaker since the end of apartheid, and the first black man ever to serve as Speaker in the South African Parliament. He served in the office throughout the Fourth Parliament but was replaced by Baleka Mbete after the May 2014 general election.
Early life
Sisulu was born on 23 August 1945 in Soweto.{{Cite web |last=Plaatjies |first=Daniel |date=2021 |title=Max Sisulu |url=https://www.servantleader.co.za/max |access-date=2024-06-07 |website=Servant Leader |language=en}} He was the eldest of five children born to Albertina and Walter Sisulu, who were prominent anti-apartheid activists in the African National Congress; his younger siblings were Mlungisi, Zwelakhe, Lindiwe, and Nonkululeko.{{Cite book |last=Sisulu |first=Elinor |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=O2Jxes0JT0MC |title=Walter & Albertina Sisulu: In Our Lifetime |date=2011-09-15 |publisher=New Africa Books |isbn=978-0-86486-639-4 |language=en}} In 1963, when he was aged 19, he and his mother were arrested and detained after his father went into hiding. Shortly after his release, he left South Africa for exile; his father, meanwhile, was apprehended by police later that year and was sentenced to life imprisonment in the Rivonia Trial.
Exile and early career
Leaving South Africa via Gaborone, Botswana, Sisulu travelled to Tanzania, where he joined Umkhonto we Sizwe. Over the next decade, he spent stints in various regions of Africa and Europe. Among other things, he completed a master's degree in political economy from the Plekhanov Russian University of Economics in Moscow in 1969, a senior military training course in Skhodnya, Soviet Union in 1972, and a one year-research fellowship at the University of Amsterdam in 1985.{{cite web |title=Max Vuyesile Sisulu |url=http://apps.gcis.gov.za/gcis/gcis_profile.jsp?id=6394 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121213185333/http://apps.gcis.gov.za/gcis/gcis_profile.jsp?id=6394 |archive-date=13 December 2012 |accessdate=31 January 2013 |website=GCIS}} He also spent a period as the ANC's representative in Budapest.{{Cite web |last=Kianja |date=29 November 2021 |title=Max Sisulu receives Hungarian Honour |url=https://www.thediplomaticsociety.co.za/3593-max-sisulu-receives-hungarian-honour |access-date=2024-06-07 |website=The Diplomatic Society |language=en-gb}} From 1986 to 1990, he was stationed at the ANC's headquarters in Lusaka, Zambia, where he was head of the ANC's Department of Economic Planning.
In 1990, Sisulu returned to South Africa amid the negotiations to end apartheid.{{Cite news |last=Wren |first=Christopher S. |date=1990-06-13 |title=Johannesburg Journal; An Exile Comes Home to Soweto's Sad Embrace |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1990/06/13/world/johannesburg-journal-an-exile-comes-home-to-soweto-s-sad-embrace.html |access-date=2024-06-11 |work=The New York Times |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331}} The following year, he became the founding director of the Director of the National Institute of Economic Policies, an ANC think-tank based in Johannesburg. In addition, in 1993, he completed Master of Public Administration at the Harvard Kennedy School of Government.
First Parliament: 1994–1998
In South Africa's first post-apartheid elections in April 1994, Sisulu was elected to represent the ANC in the National Assembly, the lower house of the new South African Parliament. He was also appointed as the inaugural chairperson of the portfolio committee that was tasked with oversight of the Reconstruction and Development Programme (RDP), the ANC's flagship economic and social policy; Sisulu had helped draft the policy itself.{{Cite web |date=1999-08-20 |title=RIP the RDP committee |url=https://mg.co.za/article/1999-08-20-rip-the-rdp-committee/ |access-date=2024-06-07 |website=The Mail & Guardian |language=en-ZA}} During the same period, Sisulu rose in the ANC: he was elected to the ANC National Executive Committee (NEC) for the first time at the party's congress in 1994,{{Cite web |title=49th National Conference: National Executive Committee as elected at Conference |url=https://www.anc1912.org.za/49th-national-conference-national-executive-committee-as-elected-at-conference/ |access-date=2021-12-04 |website=ANC |language=en-US}} and in 1997 he was elected both to the NEC and to the smaller National Working Committee (NWC) at the next congress in 1997.{{Cite web |title=51st National Conference: Report of the Secretary General |url=https://www.anc1912.org.za/51st-national-conference-report-of-the-secretary-general/ |access-date=2021-12-04 |website=ANC |language=en-US}}{{Cite web |title=51st National Conference: Report of the Secretary General |url=https://www.anc1912.org.za/51st-national-conference-report-of-the-secretary-general/ |access-date=2021-12-04 |website=ANC |language=en-US}}
In February 1997, he was appointed as the second Chief Whip of the Majority Party, succeeding Arnold Stofile.{{Cite web |date=1997-10-30 |title='Pay as you go' for ANC MPs |url=https://mg.co.za/article/1997-10-30-pay-as-you-go-for-anc-mps/ |access-date=2024-06-07 |website=The Mail & Guardian |language=en-ZA}} Upon taking office, he announced a plan to restore and upgrade the status of Parliament's RDP committee. He also introduced academic training programmes for Members of Parliament and parliamentary staff.{{Cite web |date=24 November 2013 |title=Will Max Sisulu call it quits? |url=https://www.news24.com/news24/will-max-sisulu-call-it-quits-20150429 |access-date=2024-06-07 |website=News24 |language=en-US}} However, his tenure as whip was brief: he resigned from Parliament in November 1998 to enter the corporate world.{{cite news |last=Warby |first=Vivian |date=6 May 2009 |title=Sisulu elected as first male Speaker in Parliament |url=http://www.buanews.gov.za/news/09/09050613251002 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130730020443/http://www.buanews.gov.za/news/09/09050613251002 |archive-date=30 July 2013 |access-date=6 May 2009 |work=GCIS |publisher=}}
Corporate hiatus: 1998–2009
He was deputy chief executive officer of Denel from 1998 to 2001 and then group general manager of Sasol from 2003 to 2006.{{Cite web |last=Seepe |first=Jimmy |date=19 October 2003 |title=Sisulu 'wanted shortcuts' |url=https://www.news24.com/news24/sisulu-wanted-shortcuts-20031019 |access-date=2024-06-07 |website=News24 |language=en-US}} Thereafter he held various directorships, including at African Rainbow Minerals.{{Cite web |date=12 August 2009 |title=Resignation of director |url=https://arm.co.za/news_press/resignation-of-director/ |access-date=2024-06-07 |website=African Rainbow Minerals (ARM) |language=en}}
During this period, Sisulu remained active in the ANC; he was re-elected to the NEC, and re-appointed to the NWC, both in December 2002{{Cite web |title=51st National Conference: National Executive Committee as elected |url=https://www.anc1912.org.za/51st-national-conference-national-executive-committee-as-elected/ |access-date=2021-12-04 |website=ANC |language=en-US}}{{Cite web |title=52nd National Conference: Organisational Report |url=https://www.anc1912.org.za/52nd-national-conference-organisational-report/ |access-date=2021-12-04 |website=ANC |language=en-US}} and then in December 2007.{{Cite web |title=52nd National Conference: National Executive Committee as elected |url=https://www.anc1912.org.za/national-executive-committee-as-elected/ |access-date=2021-12-04 |website=ANC |language=en-US}}{{Cite web |date=2012 |title=Organisational Report to the 53rd National Conference |url=https://new.anc1912.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/Organisational-Report-2012.pdf |access-date=2021-12-04 |website=ANC}} He was particularly prominent as the chairperson of the NEC's Subcommittee on Economic Transformation,{{Cite news |date=19 January 2008 |title=ANC subcommittee chairs bode well for economic policy continuity |url=https://www.iol.co.za/business-report/economy/anc-subcommittee-chairs-bode-well-for-economic-policy-continuity-690745 |access-date=7 June 2024 |work=IOL}} and the Mail & Guardian said that he brought "serious business nous" and "much-needed technical expertise" to the NWC.{{Cite web |date=2008-01-09 |title=Who's who in the Zu(ma) NWC |url=https://mg.co.za/article/2008-01-10-whos-who-in-the-zuma-nwc/ |access-date=2024-06-07 |website=The Mail & Guardian |language=en-ZA}}
Fourth Parliament: 2009–2014
In the April 2009 general election, Sisulu returned to the National Assembly, ranked 39th on the ANC's party list.{{Cite web |date=2013-03-12 |title=New and old faces arrive at Parliament |url=https://www.sanews.gov.za/south-africa/new-and-old-faces-arrive-parliament |access-date=2024-06-07 |website=South African Government News Agency |language=en}} When Parliament opened on 6 May, he was elected unopposed to replace Gwen Mahlangu-Nkabinde as the Speaker of the National Assembly, with Nomaindia Mfeketo as his deputy.{{Cite web |date=6 May 2009 |title=Sisulu accepts his job with humility |url=http://www.iol.co.za/news/politics/sisulu-accepts-his-job-with-humility-1.442423 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110606140020/http://www.iol.co.za/news/politics/sisulu-accepts-his-job-with-humility-1.442423 |archive-date=2011-06-06 |access-date=2024-06-07 |website=IOL}} He was nominated to the position by Andrew Mlangeni.{{Cite web |date=2009-05-06 |title=Sisulu elected National Assembly speaker |url=https://mg.co.za/article/2009-05-06-sisulu-elected-national-assembly-speaker/ |access-date=2024-06-07 |website=The Mail & Guardian |language=en-ZA}} The first man to hold the office since 1994, he used his acceptance speech to urge members to "resist the urge" to call him Madam Speaker. He served as Speaker throughout the Fourth Parliament, during which time he was "widely respected" for his fairness and levity.{{Cite web |date=2014-05-21 |title=Baleka Mbete sworn in as speaker of the House |url=https://mg.co.za/article/2014-05-21-baleka-mbete-sworn-in-as-speaker-of-the-house/ |access-date=2024-06-07 |website=The Mail & Guardian |language=en-ZA}}{{Cite web |date=2014-05-21 |title=ANC exerts majority with Mbete's Parliament appointment |url=https://mg.co.za/article/2014-05-21-anc-exerts-majority-with-mbetes-parliament-appointment/ |access-date=2024-06-07 |website=The Mail & Guardian |language=en-ZA}} He also oversaw the establishment of the parliamentary budget office.{{Cite web |date=2013-03-01 |title=Parliamentary fiscal office on track |url=https://mg.co.za/article/2013-03-01-00-parliamentary-fiscal-office-on-track/ |access-date=2024-06-07 |website=The Mail & Guardian |language=en-ZA}}
Simultaneously, Sisulu continued to serve as chairperson of the ANC NEC's Subcommittee on Economic Transformation until after the party's 53rd National Conference in December 2012,{{Cite web |date=18 December 2012 |title=The state of the ANC – Gwede Mantashe |url=https://www.politicsweb.co.za/politics/the-state-of-the-anc--gwede-mantashe |access-date=2023-07-31 |website=Politicsweb |language=en}} when Enoch Godongwana was elected to take over the position.{{Cite web |date=15 January 2013 |title=ANC NEC approves names for sub committees |url=https://www.politicsweb.co.za/politics/anc-nec-approves-names-for-sub-committees |access-date=2023-07-29 |website=Politicsweb |language=en}} The same conference re-elected Sisulu to his fifth term on the NEC,{{Cite web |title=ANC National Executive Committee Members |url=https://www.anc1912.org.za/53rd-national-conference-anc-national-executive-committee-members/ |access-date=2021-12-04 |website=ANC |language=en-US}} though he did not return to the NWC.{{Cite web |date=2017 |title=Organisational Report to the 54th National Conference |url=https://new.anc1912.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/Organisational-Report-2017.pdf |access-date=2011-12-04 |website=ANC}}
= Nkandlagate =
The end of Sisulu's term as Speaker was partly consumed by the so-called Nkandlagate scandal, which concerned state-funded upgrades to President Jacob Zuma's Nkandla homestead. In March 2014, shortly before the end of the parliamentary term, the Public Protector released a report which concluded that Zuma had benefitted unduly from the upgrades and should be required to repay the state. Opposition parties said that Sisulu was responsive to their requests for the Public Protector's report to be tabled in the National Assembly,{{Cite web |date=31 March 2014 |title=Sisulu to table Nkandla report – FF Plus |url=https://www.news24.com/news24/sisulu-to-table-nkandla-report-ff-plus-20140331 |access-date=2024-06-07 |website=News24 |language=en-US}} and Sisulu ultimately announced that he would establish an ad hoc parliamentary committee to consider the report.{{Cite web |date=2014-04-08 |title=DA, FF+ say Sisulu to investigate Nkandla before elections – reports |url=https://mg.co.za/article/2014-04-08-da-ff-say-sisulu-to-investigate-nkandla-before-elections-reports/ |access-date=2024-06-07 |website=The Mail & Guardian |language=en-ZA}}{{Cite web |date=2014-04-09 |title=Parliament to establish ad hoc Nkandla committee |url=https://mg.co.za/article/2014-04-09-parliament-to-established-ad-hoc-nkandla-committee/ |access-date=2024-06-07 |website=The Mail & Guardian |language=en-ZA}} Opposition politician Lindiwe Mazibuko welcomed his decision as a "bold move" and "a victory for Parliament, the constitution and accountability".
There were later reports – disputed by the ANC – that Sisulu had been rebuked by the party for establishing the committee.{{Cite web |date=30 May 2014 |title=Nkandla not why Max Sisulu resigned – ANC |url=https://www.news24.com/news24/nkandla-not-why-max-sisulu-resigned-anc-20150429 |access-date=2024-06-07 |website=News24 |language=en-US}} Although the ad hoc committee initially intended to complete its work before the end of the parliamentary term, it did not do so.{{cite news |last=Vecchiatto |first=Paul |date=28 April 2014 |title=Nkandla probe stalled |url=http://www.bdlive.co.za/national/2014/04/28/nkandla-probe-stalled |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140429123243/http://www.bdlive.co.za/national/2014/04/28/nkandla-probe-stalled |archive-date=29 April 2014 |access-date=1 May 2014 |newspaper=Business Day}}
= Departure =
In the May 2014 general election, Sisulu was ranked 14th on the ANC's party list,{{Cite web |title=Max Vuyisile Sisulu |url=http://www.pa.org.za/person/max-vuyisile-sisulu/ |access-date=2024-06-07 |website=People's Assembly |language=en}} but the ANC announced that Baleka Mbete would replace him as Speaker.{{Cite web |date=2014-05-20 |title=Mbete to replace Sisulu as National Assembly speaker |url=https://mg.co.za/article/2014-05-20-baleka-mbete-to-replace-max-sisulu-as-national-assembly-speaker/ |access-date=2024-06-07 |website=The Mail & Guardian |language=en-ZA}} Steven Friedman and others suggested that the move indicated that the ANC wanted to exert stricter partisan control of the Speaker's office and of Parliament. Sisulu was sworn in as an ordinary Member of Parliament on 21 May, but he resigned from his seat eight days later when he failed to gain appointment to Zuma's cabinet.{{Cite web |date=29 May 2014 |title=Sisulu 'throws in the towel' after rebuff at Parliament |url=https://www.businesslive.co.za/bd/national/2014-05-29-sisulu-throws-in-the-towel-after-rebuff-at-parliament/ |access-date=2024-06-07 |website=Business Day |language=en-ZA}}{{Cite web |date=2014-05-29 |title=Former speaker Sisulu resigns from Parliament |url=https://mg.co.za/article/2014-05-29-former-speaker-sisulu-resigns-from-parliament/ |access-date=2024-06-07 |website=The Mail & Guardian |language=en-ZA}} Observers were surprised by his exclusion,{{Cite web |date=25 May 2014 |title=Cabinet's biggest losers |url=https://www.news24.com/news24/archives/city-press/cabinets-biggest-losers-20150429 |access-date=2024-06-07 |website=News24 |language=en-US}} but the ANC strenuously denied rumours that he was being punished for having instigated the Nkandla investigation.
Retirement
After leaving Parliament, Sisulu remained active in the ANC. In 2016, he emerged as a critic of President Zuma, first expressing public dissatisfaction in April in the aftermath of the Economic Freedom Fighters v Speaker judgment.{{Cite web |last=Heard |first=Janet |date=1 April 2016 |title=Max Sisulu breaks silence on Nkandla: Parliament must get house in order |url=https://www.news24.com/citypress/news/max-sisulu-breaks-silence-on-nkandla-parliament-must-get-house-in-order-20160401 |access-date=2024-06-07 |website=City Press |language=en-US}} Later that year he called – both in public and during an ANC NEC meeting – for Zuma's resignation.{{Cite web |date=2016-10-07 |title=New blows to Zuma Inc from outside and inside the ANC |url=https://mg.co.za/article/2016-10-07-00-new-blows-to-zuma-inc/ |access-date=2024-06-07 |website=The Mail & Guardian |language=en-ZA}} He also said publicly that Zuma's failure to support Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan was "bloody foolish",{{Cite web |date=13 October 2016 |title=Bloody foolish to pursue Pravin Gordhan – Max Sisulu |url=https://www.news24.com/citypress/news/bloody-foolish-to-pursue-pravin-gordhan-max-sisulu-20161012 |access-date=2024-06-07 |website=City Press |language=en-US}} and he attended a civil society march in support of Gordhan in Pretoria.{{Cite web |date=2 November 2016 |title=Max Sisulu joins Save South Africa assembly - latest in roster of big names standing up against Zuma |url=https://www.timeslive.co.za/politics/2016-11-02-max-sisulu-joins-save-south-africa-assembly-latest-in-roster-of-big-names-standing-up-against-zuma/ |access-date=2024-06-07 |website=Sunday Times |language=en-ZA}} Sisulu served the remainder of his five-year term as a member of the NEC, but he was not re-elected at the next national conference in December 2017.{{Cite news |date=22 December 2017 |title=#ANC54: Communists out in the cold |url=https://www.iol.co.za/news/politics/anc54-communists-out-in-the-cold-12512156 |access-date=7 June 2024 |work=IOL}}
On 31 January 2018, he was appointed as an independent non-executive director of Harmony Gold.{{Cite web |date=1 February 2018 |title=Appointment of director |url=https://www.harmony.co.za/investors/news/company-announcements/2018/947-appointment-of-director/ |access-date=2024-06-07 |website=Harmony}}
Personal life
In 1966, Sisulu married Mercy Vutela, the daughter of activist Greta Ncapayi; she had been his high school sweetheart and reunited with him in exile in Moscow. Their son, Mlungisi, became a diplomat in the South African embassies to Khartoum and Prague; he died of cerebral malaria in London, England in January 2008, aged 40.{{Cite web |date=2008-01-04 |title=ANC saddened by Sisulu death |url=https://mg.co.za/article/2008-01-04-anc-saddened-by-sisulu-death/ |access-date=2024-06-07 |website=The Mail & Guardian |language=en-ZA}}{{Cite web |date=10 January 2008 |title=Memorial planned for Sisulu |url=https://www.news24.com/news24/memorial-planned-for-sisulu-20080110 |access-date=2024-06-07 |website=News24 |language=en-US}} Sisulu's first marriage was shortlived. His second child, Shaka, was born in 1979 to Makhosazana Msimang, Mendi Msimang's daughter, and went on to become an activist and media personality.{{Cite web |date=4 February 2012 |title=Home and Away – Shaka Sisulu |url=https://www.news24.com/news24/home-and-away-shaka-sisulu-20150430 |access-date=2024-06-07 |website=News24 |language=en-US}}
In September 1986, he married Elinor Sisulu, a writer whom he had met in Amsterdam in 1985. She later published a biography of her parents-in-law.{{Cite web |date=2001-12-31 |title=New book provides insight into Sisulu family |url=https://mg.co.za/article/2002-01-01-new-book-provides-insight-into-sisulu-family/ |access-date=2024-06-07 |website=The Mail & Guardian |language=en-ZA}}
References
{{reflist}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sisulu, Max}}
Category:African National Congress politicians
Category:Speakers of the National Assembly of South Africa
External links
- {{People's Assembly (South Africa)|max-vuyisile-sisulu|Mr Max Vuyisile Sisulu}}
- {{C-SPAN|14595}}
{{SouthAfricaAssemblySpeakers}}
Category:Members of the National Assembly of South Africa 1994–1999
Category:Members of the National Assembly of South Africa 2009–2014