Richard Baloyi
{{Short description|South African politician (born 1958)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}}
{{Infobox officeholder
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| name = Richard Baloyi
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| office = Member of the National Assembly
| status =
| term_start = 14 June 1999
| term_end = 10 July 2013
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| taoiseach =
| chancellor =
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| constituency = Limpopo (1999–2009)
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| office2 = Minister of Public Service and Administration
| term_end2 =
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| president2 = Jacob Zuma
Kgalema Motlanthe
| governor_general2 =
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| viceprimeminister2 =
| deputy2 = Ayanda Dlodlo
Roy Padayachie
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| predecessor2 = Geraldine Fraser-Moleketi
| successor2 = Roy Padayachie
| parliamentarygroup2 =
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| prior_term2 =
| termstart2 = 25 September 2008
| termend2 = 24 October 2011
| termstart1 = 24 October 2011
| termend1 = 9 July 2013
| successor1 = Lech Tsenoli
| predecessor1 = Sicelo Shiceka
| office1 = Minister of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs
| president1 = Jacob Zuma
| deputy1 = Yunus Carrim
| birth_date = {{birth date and age|1958|12|25|df=yes}}
| birth_place = Shawela, Transvaal
Union of South Africa
| alma_mater = University of the North
| party = African National Congress
}}
Masenyani Richard Baloyi (born 25 December 1958) is a South African politician from Limpopo. He was the Minister of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs from October 2011 to July 2013 and, before that, the Minister of Public Service and Administration from September 2008 to October 2011. He represented the African National Congress (ANC) in the National Assembly of South Africa between 1999 and 2013.
Baloyi joined the national executive in 2008 as a member of the cabinet of President Kgalema Motlanthe, and he was retained in the first-term cabinet of President Jacob Zuma. After Zuma sacked him from the cabinet in July 2013, Baloyi resigned from the National Assembly; he went on to serve as Zuma's Ambassador to the Republic of Congo between March 2014 and June 2018.
Early life and education
Baloyi was born on 25 December 1958,{{cite magazine |date=11 June 1999 |title=General Notice: Notice 1319 of 1999 – Electoral Commission: Representatives Elected to the Various Legislatures |url=https://gazettes.africa/archive/za/1999/za-government-gazette-dated-1999-06-11-no-20203.pdf |access-date=26 March 2021 |magazine=Government Gazette of South Africa |publisher=Government of South Africa |location=Pretoria, South Africa |pages= |volume=408 |issue=20203}} in Shawela in present-day Limpopo Province.{{Cite news |date=4 October 2010 |title=Baloyi welcomed back to his roots |url=https://www.sowetanlive.co.za/news/2010-10-04-baloyi-welcomed-back-to-his-roots/ |access-date=28 September 2024 |work=Sowetan}} He holds a Bachelor of Arts from the University of the North, and he also completed a leadership development programme at the University of Botswana.{{Cite web |title=Mr Richard Masenyani Baloyi |url=https://www.gov.za/about-government/contact-directory/richard-masenyani-baloyi-mr |access-date=28 September 2024 |website=Government of South Africa}}
Political career
During apartheid, Baloyi was an activist in the United Democratic Front. He later became active in the African National Congress (ANC) in his home region, serving as secretary of his local branch in Giyani and ultimately rising to membership in the party's Provincial Executive Committee in Limpopo. At the same time, he represented the ANC in the Parliament of South Africa, gaining election to the National Assembly in the June 1999 general election and re-election in the April 2004 general election.{{cite magazine |date=20 April 2004 |title=General Notice: Notice 717 of 2004 - Electoral Commission – List of Names of Representatives in the National Assembly and the Nine Provincial Legislatures in Respect of the Elections Held on 14 April 2004 |url=https://www.gov.za/sites/default/files/gcis_document/201409/262770.pdf |access-date=26 March 2021 |magazine=Government Gazette of South Africa |publisher=Government of South Africa |location=Pretoria, South Africa |pages=4–95 |volume=466 |issue=2677}} During his two terms as an ordinary Member of Parliament, he represented the Limpopo constituency and served in several parliamentary committees, including the Portfolio Committee on Public Service and Administration, the National Assembly Rules Committee, the Joint Committee on Ethics and Members' Interest, and an ad hoc committee on the African Peer Review Mechanism on Democracy and Good Governance.
= Minister of Public Service and Administration: 2008–2011 =
On 25 September 2008, Baloyi was appointed as Minister of Public Service and Administration by Kgalema Motlanthe, who had that day been elected as the third President of South Africa.{{Cite web |date=25 September 2008 |title=Motlanthe's inauguration address inc. names of new cabinet |url=https://www.politicsweb.co.za/news-and-analysis/motlanthes-inauguration-address-inc-names-of-new-c |access-date=2024-07-03 |website=PoliticsWeb |language=en}}{{Cite news |last=Majavu |first=Anna |date=26 September 2008 |title=Winners, losers in cabinet shuffle |url=https://www.sowetanlive.co.za/amp/news/2008-09-26-winners-losers-in-cabinet-shuffle/ |access-date=4 July 2024 |work=The Sowetan}} Motlanthe's cabinet served only until the April 2009 general election, but Baloyi was reappointed to the same position in the successor cabinet of President Jacob Zuma. At the same time, in the 2009 election, he secured election to his third term in the National Assembly, this time gaining election from the ANC's national party list.{{Cite web |title=Members of the National Assembly |url=http://www.pmg.org.za/node/30336 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140209085913/http://www.pmg.org.za/node/30336 |archive-date=9 February 2014 |access-date=2 March 2023 |website=Parliamentary Monitoring Group}}
The Mail & Guardian reported that Baloyi had an unhappy relationship with Ayanda Dlodlo, who was Deputy Minister of Public Service and Administration from November 2010.{{Cite web |date=2011-10-07 |title=Richard Baloyi, deputy ‘at loggerheads’ |url=https://mg.co.za/article/2011-10-07-richard-baloyi-deputy-at-loggerheads/ |access-date=2024-09-28 |website=The Mail & Guardian |language=en-ZA}}
== Public-sector wage negotiations ==
In August 2010, Baloyi's department failed to settle wage negotiations with public servants, leading to a major strike by public-sector unions.{{Cite web |date=2010-08-19 |title=Nationwide strike set to intensify |url=https://mg.co.za/article/2010-08-19-nationwide-strike-set-to-intensify/ |access-date=2024-09-28 |website=The Mail & Guardian |language=en-ZA}}{{Cite web |date=2010-10-12 |title=Minister ‘hopeful’ unions will accept govt wage offer |url=https://mg.co.za/article/2010-10-12-minister-hopeful-unions-will-accept-govt-offer/ |access-date=2024-09-28 |website=The Mail & Guardian |language=en-ZA}} The dispute was resolved in October 2010, when a majority of unions accepted a 7.5 per cent salary increase,{{Cite web |date=2010-10-20 |title=Public-sector unions accept govt wage offer |url=https://mg.co.za/article/2010-10-20-publicsector-unions-accept-govt-wage-offer/ |access-date=2024-09-28 |website=The Mail & Guardian |language=en-ZA}} but Baloyi was roundly criticised for his handling of the strike.{{Cite web |date=2010-11-05 |title=More deadwood that escaped the chop |url=https://mg.co.za/article/2010-11-05-more-deadwood-that-escaped-the-chop/ |access-date=2024-09-28 |website=The Mail & Guardian |language=en-ZA}}{{Cite web |date=2010-12-23 |title=Cabinet report cards 2010: Reshuffling the deckchairs |url=https://mg.co.za/article/2010-12-23-cabinet-report-cards-2010-reshuffling-the-deckchairs/ |access-date=2024-09-28 |website=The Mail & Guardian |language=en-ZA}} Themba Mthembu of the South African Communist Party said he was a "bad negotiator" who had "handled the strike and negotiations... like he was watching the Olympics",{{Cite web |date=2010-09-01 |title=SACP: Zuma surrounded by ‘wrong people’ |url=https://mg.co.za/article/2010-09-01-sacp-zuma-surrounded-by-wrong-people/ |access-date=2024-09-28 |website=The Mail & Guardian |language=en-ZA}} while Athol Trollip of the opposition Democratic Alliance called for Zuma to fire Baloyi for his "clumsy handling of labour relations".{{Cite news |date=25 October 2010 |title=Fire Richard Baloyi – DA |url=https://www.news24.com/news24/fire-richard-baloyi-da-20101025 |access-date=28 September 2024 |work=News24}} In October 2019, Finance Minister Tito Mboweni publicly alleged that Baloyi was partly responsible for unsustainable inflation of the public-sector wage bill.{{Cite news |date=30 October 2019 |title=Mboweni says former ministers to blame for wage mess; ministers’ perks curbed |url=https://www.news24.com/citypress/business/mboweni-says-former-ministers-to-blame-for-wage-mess-ministers-perks-curbed-20191030 |access-date=28 September 2024 |work=City Press}}
== Themba Maseko transfer ==
In February 2011, Baloyi announced the appointment of Jimmy Manyi as head of the Government Communication and Information System (GCIS), controversially transferring the incumbent GCIS head, Themba Maseko, to become director-general in Baloyi's own Department of Public Service and Administration.{{Cite web |date=2011-02-11 |title=Manyi’s clash of interests sidestepped |url=https://mg.co.za/article/2011-02-11-manyis-clash-of-interests-sidestepped/ |access-date=2024-09-28 |website=The Mail & Guardian |language=en-ZA}} Maseko later claimed that he was transferred because he refused to acquiesce in state capture by the Gupta brothers, an allegation which precipitated an inquiry by the Zondo Commission. Appearing at the Zondo Commission in 2019, Baloyi claimed that he had not made the decision to transfer Maseko and appoint Manyi, but rather had been instructed by the Minister in the Presidency, Collins Chabane, to carry out the transfer;{{Cite web |last=Davis |first=Rebecca |date=2019-12-03 |title=Two ministers, two Bible verses, multiple denials |url=https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2019-12-04-two-ministers-two-bible-verses-multiple-denials/ |access-date=2024-09-28 |website=Daily Maverick |language=en}}{{Cite news |date=3 December 2019 |title=Chabane gave instruction to move Maseko from GCIS: Richard Baloyi |url=https://www.sowetanlive.co.za/news/south-africa/2019-12-03-chabane-gave-instruction-to-move-maseko-from-gcis-richard-baloyi/ |access-date=28 September 2024 |work=Sowetan}} the commission's report described his testimony as flimsy and tinged with "desperation".{{Cite web |last=Davis |first=Rebecca |date=2022-01-07 |title=‘Negligence, incompetence, corrupt intent’: The Zondo Report in quotes |url=https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2022-01-07-state-capture-report-in-crunch-quotes-from-negligence-incompetence-corrupt-intent-to-creating-a-culture-of-fear/ |access-date=2024-09-28 |website=Daily Maverick |language=en}}
= Minister of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs: 2011–2013 =
On 24 October 2011, President Zuma announced a cabinet reshuffle in which Baloyi was appointed as Minister of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs.{{Cite web |date=24 October 2011 |title=Special announcements by President Zuma |url=https://www.gov.za/news/media-statements/special-announcements-president-zuma-24-oct-2011 |access-date=2024-07-05 |website=South African Government}} He replaced Sicelo Shiceka, who had been implicated in misconduct by the Public Protector.{{Cite web |last=Wet |first=Phillip De |date=2011-10-24 |title=Zuma announces far-reaching cabinet reshuffle, suspends Cele |url=https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2011-10-24-zuma-announces-far-reaching-cabinet-reshuffle-suspends-cele/ |access-date=2024-07-05 |website=Daily Maverick |language=en}} The Mail & Guardian said that, during his two years in this portfolio, Baloyi was viewed "as one of the worst performing ministers in the Cabinet".{{Cite web |date=2013-07-12 |title=Zuma’s in a 2014 state of mind |url=https://mg.co.za/article/2013-07-12-00-zumas-in-a-2014-state-of-mind/ |access-date=2024-09-28 |website=The Mail & Guardian |language=en-ZA}}
On 9 July 2013, in another cabinet reshuffle, President Zuma announced that Baloyi had been sacked and replaced by Lech Tsenoli.{{Cite web |date=9 July 2013 |title=Pule, Sexwale axed in cabinet reshuffle |url=http://www.iol.co.za/news/politics/pule-sexwale-axed-in-cabinet-reshuffle-1.1544397#.UdycfOAR5lk |access-date=5 July 2024 |website=IOL}}{{Cite web |date=9 July 2013 |title=Media statement by President Jacob Zuma on changes in the National Executive |url=https://www.gov.za/media-statement-president-jacob-zuma-changes-national-executive |access-date=2024-07-05 |website=South African Government}} Two weeks later, a parliamentary spokesperson announced that Baloyi had resigned from his parliamentary seat soon after the reshuffle, with effect from 10 July.{{Cite web |date=26 July 2013 |title=Baloyi resigns from parliament |url=https://www.enca.com/africa/baloyi-resigns-parliament |access-date=2018-03-08 |website=eNCA |language=en}}{{Cite news |date=26 July 2013 |title=Baloyi resigns from Parliament |url=https://www.news24.com/news24/baloyi-resigns-from-parliament-20130726 |access-date=28 September 2024 |work=News24}} His seat was filled by Francois Beukman.
Diplomatic career
In the aftermath of Baloyi's resignation from Parliament, press reported that he was expected to replace Stan Mathabatha as South African Ambassador to Ukraine.{{Cite news |last=Ensor |first=Linda |date=5 August 2013 |title=Baloyi ‘set for Ukraine posting’ |url=https://www.businesslive.co.za/bd/national/2013-08-05-baloyi-set-for-ukraine-posting/ |access-date=28 September 2024 |work=Business Day}} Instead, Zuma appointed him as South African Ambassador to the Republic of Congo; he was stationed in Brazzaville between March 2014 and June 2018.{{Cite web |date=26 June 2018 |title=Richard Baloyi salue l’hospitalité des Congolais |url=https://www.adiac-congo.com/content/diplomatie-richard-baloyi-salue-lhospitalite-des-congolais-85327 |access-date=2024-09-28 |website=Agence d'information d'Afrique Centrale |language=French}}
Personal life
In 2010 Baloyi launched a philanthropic trust which aimed to support soccer development in his hometown.{{Cite news |date=21 December 2010 |title=Minister ploughs back to his community |url=https://www.sowetanlive.co.za/news/2010-12-21-minister-ploughs-back-to-his-community/ |access-date=28 September 2024 |work=Sowetan}}{{Cite news |date=24 February 2012 |title=Shawela United wins minister Baloyi's tournament |url=https://www.limpopomirror.co.za/articles/sport/11940/2012-02-24/shawela-united-wins-minister-baloyias-tournament |access-date=28 September 2024 |work=Limpopo Mirror}}
References
External links
- {{People's Assembly (South Africa)|id=masenyani-richard-baloyi|name=Masenyani Richard Baloyi}}
- [https://www.gov.za/about-government/contact-directory/richard-masenyani-baloyi-mr Richard Masenyani Baloyi] at South African Government
{{Kgalema Motlanthe cabinet 1}}{{Jacob Zuma cabinet 1}}
Category:Members of the National Assembly of South Africa 1999–2004
Category:Members of the National Assembly of South Africa 2004–2009
Category:Members of the National Assembly of South Africa 2009–2014
Category:People from Mopani District Municipality