Mamiki Qabathe

In January 2008, Qabathe was appointed to the Free State Executive Council by Beatrice Marshoff, then the Premier of the Free State.[1] She became Member of the Executive Council (MEC) for Agriculture.[1] In July of that year, she ascended for the first time to one of the so-called "Top Five" offices in the ANC's Free State branch; she was elected unopposed as Deputy Provincial Secretary of the Free State ANC, serving under Ace Magashule, as Provincial Chairperson, and Sibongile Besani, as Provincial Secretary.[2] In October, Marshoff announced a reshuffle in which Qabathe became MEC for Sports, Arts and Culture; she remained in that portfolio for the rest of Marshoff's term in office.[3]

Pursuant to the 2009 general election, Marshoff was succeeded as Premier by Ace Magashule. In Magashule's new Executive Council, Qabathe was returned to her old post as MEC for Agriculture.[4] Over the next four years, Qabathe moved across several portfolios in Magashule's frequent reshuffles. She was moved to the cooperative governance, traditional affairs and human settlements portfolio in February 2011;[5] then to the economic development, tourism and environmental affairs portfolio in February 2012;[6][7] and finally back to the agriculture portfolio (which by then also included rural development) in March 2013.[8] In the 2014 general election, Qabathe was re-elected to her seat in the Free State Provincial Legislature, ranked eighth on the ANC's party list. Magashule, who was also re-elected, retained her as MEC for Agriculture and Rural Development.[9][10]

On 11 March 2015, she was elected Speaker of the Free State Provincial Legislature and therefore departed the Executive Council; she succeeded Sisi Mabe, who had died in 2014, and Msebenzi Zwane succeeded her as Agriculture MEC in May.[11][12]

Qabathe's tenure as MEC under Magashule later attracted controversy because of her involvement in implementing the Vrede Dairy Project, which was established in 2012 but continued during Qabathe's third term as agriculture MEC from 2013 to 2015. The project was later investigated by the Public Protector, Busisiwe Mkhwebane, who concluded in 2020 that Qabathe – along with Magashule and Msebenzi Zwane, who both preceded and succeeded her in the agriculture portfolio – was guilty of maladministration and misconduct in so far as she had failed to fulfil her constitutional oversight duties in respect of the project.[13]

Mkhwebane recommended that the Free State government should consider sanctioning Qabathe for her role in the Vrede Dairy Project saga.[13][14] The opposition Economic Freedom Fighters called for Qabathe to be fired,[15] and the opposition Democratic Alliance (DA) asked the Special Investigating Unit to investigate her and other officials for their role.[16] The DA claimed that, in addition to her putative failures as an MEC, Qabathe had shielded Zwane from accountability while she was Speaker of the legislature.[17]

Qabathe was re-elected to her party office as ANC Deputy Provincial Secretary in May 2013[18] and December 2017,[19] still under Provincial Chairperson Magashule. Shortly after her 2017 re-election, the election results were nullified by the high court due to procedural irregularities, but Qabathe was subsequently appointed as a member of the interim task team assembled by the national ANC to lead the provincial party until fresh elections could be held.[20]

When the ANC elections were re-run in May 2018, Qabathe was elected unopposed as Deputy Provincial Secretary, now serving under Sam Mashinini, who succeeded Magashule as chairperson, and Provincial Secretary Paseka Nompondo.[21] In the 2019 general election, she was ranked second on the ANC's party list and was re-elected to the provincial legislature.[22] Instead of seeking re-election as Speaker, she was returned to the Executive Council, where Sisi Ntombela, Magashule's successor as Premier, appointed her MEC for Social Development.[23] Her term as ANC Deputy Secretary ended in 2021 when the national ANC disbanded the provincial leadership corps.[24]

In March 2023, Qabathe was not appointed to the Executive Council of Mxolisi Dukwana, who succeeded Ntombela following her resignation the previous month.[25]