Lindiwe Maseko

Maseko was first elected as Member of the Gauteng Provincial Legislature in 1994 in South Africa's first post-apartheid election.[2][3] Upon her re-election to the seat in 1999, she was elected Deputy Speaker in the provincial legislature;[1] upon her re-election in 2004, she became Chairperson of Committees in the legislature;[1] and in 2008, she was appointed the Chief Whip of the Majority Party, the ANC, in the legislature.[2]

For much of this period, she was also Provincial Treasurer of the ANC in Gauteng; she held that office for three terms, from 2001 to 2010, under Provincial Chairpersons Mbhazima Shilowa and Paul Mashatile.[4][5] She was also a founding member of the Soweto Heritage Trust.[1] In 2004, she was elected to a three-year term as the Chairperson of the Commonwealth Women Parliamentarians in the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association.[6] She had previously held (and later held)[7] various leadership positions in the Africa section of the association.[1][6] She chaired the national Political Office-Bearers Pension Fund from 2004 to 2009,[2] and in addition acquired several business interests of her own: by 2012, the Company and Intellectual Property Commission listed Maseko as a director of seventeen companies.[3]

Pursuant to the 2009 general election, Maseko was re-elected to a fourth term in her seat in the provincial legislature and was elected Speaker of the Gauteng Provincial Legislature under Nomvula Mokonyane, the new Premier of Gauteng.[8] The first woman to hold the position,[3] she was deputised by Steward Ngwenya and, from August 2012, by Uhuru Moiloa.[9] In 2010, she banned Members of the Legislature from using the term "Alex mafia" in the legislature.[10]

In early 2012, Maseko was accused of fostering a conflict of interest when the R6.5-million opening of the provincial legislature was held at the Coca-Cola Dome, a venue in Mamelodi which contracted Delmont Caldow Caterers as its regular caterer. Maseko had previously been a director of Delmont Caldow, and her daughter Edna remained a director.[3] However, a spokesman pointed out that the legislature had not directly contracted with Delmont Caldow.[3] Later in 2012, the Star reported that Maseko had instructed her office to purchase various groceries worth R10,998; she said that the groceries were required by the office and were not intended for her personal consumption.[11] Maseko's conduct in both episodes was subject to investigation by the Gauteng Integrity Commissioner, Ralph Mgijima, and by the Privileges and Ethics Committee of the provincial legislature. Both investigations cleared her of personal wrongdoing, finding that she had not contravened the provincial ministerial code nor indulged in exorbitant or frivolous spending: she had not directly influenced the selection of the caterer for the legislative opening, and a six-month stock of groceries had been bought for her office due to poor supply chain management and record-keeping.[12]