Nono Maloyi

On 25 June 2007,[7] Maloyi resigned from his seat in the National Assembly in order to swop seats with the ANC's Nomvula Hlangwana; she filled his seat in Parliament and he was sworn in to her seat in the North West Provincial Legislature, where he served as Chief Whip of the Majority Party.[8]

In 2008, at a hotly contested ANC provincial conference,[9] Maloyi was elected provincial chairperson of the ANC in the North West.[10] He was viewed as aligned to Thabo Mbeki, who had recently lost the ANC presidency to Jacob Zuma at the ANC's 52nd National Conference.[11]

The following year, after the ANC's victory in the North West in the 2009 general election, Maloyi was one of three candidates whom the provincial ANC recommended for the post of Premier.[12] However, that position went to Maureen Modiselle and Maloyi was instead elected as Speaker of the North West Provincial Legislature.[2]

Shortly into Maloyi's tenure as Speaker, in July 2009, his term as ANC provincial chairperson ended prematurely when the ANC National Executive Committee disbanded the party's entire North West provincial leadership. Maloyi's supporters claimed that the move was retribution by the national leadership for the North West's support for Mbeki at the 52nd National Conference.[13] When the North West ANC elected its new leadership in 2011, Supra Mahumapelo, who had been ANC provincial secretary under Maloyi, was elected to succeed Maloyi as chairperson. A source told the Mail & Guardian that Maloyi had intended to run for re-election but had lost the support of Mahumapelo and his supporters, and that the relationship between Maloyi and Mahumapelo subsequently soured.[4]

He resigned as Speaker in April 2012; summarising his tenure, he quoted Charles Dickens: "it was the best of times, it was the worst of times".[2]

Maloyi left the speaker's office to became Member of the Executive Council (MEC) for Human Settlement, Public Safety and Liaison under Modiselle's successor, Premier Thandi Modise.[14][15]

Pursuant to the 2014 general election, Mahumapelo was elected to succeed Modise as Premier, and though Maloyi was re-elected to his seat in the provincial legislature, he was not re-appointed to the Executive Council.[15]

As early as 2020 the media speculated that when the North West ANC elected a new leadership corps, Maloyi might make a political comeback,[18][19][20] as a leading member of a North West ANC faction known as "N12".[21][22][23] In 2020 and 2021, several newspapers reported on claims that several North West politicians' phones had been tapped, allegedly by intelligence operatives working for Premier Job Mokgoro.[19][24] Maloyi was allegedly one of the affected politicians and the Mail & Guardian reported that he had laid criminal charges in connection with the alleged wiretap.[25]

In March 2022, he was formally nominated to stand for election to a second term as ANC provincial chairperson. He was nominated by his local ANC branch in Tlokwe near Potchefstroom, North West.[26] At the ANC's ninth provincial conference in the North West, held in Rustenberg in August 2022, Maloyi was elected provincial chairperson.[23] He had run against Premier Bushy Maape and, initially, against Mahumapelo. However, shortly before the election, Mahumapelo pulled out of the race and endorsed Maloyi's candidacy.[27][28] Maloyi won 370 votes against Maape's 294.[28]

In 2022, during Maloyi's campaign for election as ANC provincial chairperson, some opponents – particularly in the Bojanala region of North West – argued unsuccessfully that he should be barred from contesting the position, in line with the ANC's step-aside policy, because he had previously been charged with culpable homicide.[28][29] The charge was reportedly related to a 2018 car accident on the N12 which led to the death of one person.[30][31] The National Prosecuting Authority had provisionally withdrawn the charge against him in May 2022,[30] but Maloyi's opponents argued that the charge might be reinstated.[29] Maloyi lamented that they were "trying to leverage an unfortunate situation for political gain".[29] He said:

The ANC step-aside rule was meant to root out bad apples from the organisation and not to settle political scores. The accident was an unforeseen and unfortunate incident. It was not corruption, money laundering, or any of the criminal acts that were meant to be rooted out by the step-aside policy.[29]

On 8 November 2022, Maloyi was sworn back into the North West Provincial Legislature, filling a casual vacancy caused by the resignation of Kim Medupe.[32] On 21 November, Maape, who remained the Premier, announced a cabinet reshuffle which saw Maloyi appointed MEC for Human Settlement, Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs.[33]