Ntombi Mekgwe

At a party elective conference in May 2010, Mekgwe was elected Provincial Treasurer of the ANC's Gauteng branch, serving under ANC Provincial Chairperson Paul Mashatile.[9] Her candidacy was viewed as part of an informal slate of candidates aligned to Mashatile.[10] News24 said that Mekgwe played "a critical role" at the conference in helping Mashatile to defeat a challenge to his incumbency by Nomvula Mokonyane, then the Premier of Gauteng.[11] In October 2014, Mekgwe was re-elected to another four-year term in the powerful ANC treasury office,[12] and she served until July 2018, when she was succeeded by Parks Tau[13] and became an ordinary member of the Gauteng ANC's Provincial Executive Committee.[14]

On 2 November 2010, Mokonyane, in her capacity as a Premier, appointed Mekgwe to the Executive Council of Gauteng as part of a reshuffle of the Gauteng provincial government. Mekgwe succeeded Qedani Mahlangu as Member of the Executive Council (MEC) for Social Development and Health.[15] She was sworn into the Gauteng Provincial Legislature to take up the position,[16] and Mondli Gungubele replaced her as Mayor of Ekurhuleni.[17]

Mekgwe was appointed to the Executive Council at the same time as Lebogang Maile and Humphrey Mmemezi, two other politicians also viewed as "long-time loyalists" of Paul Mashatile; it was widely believed that Mashatile's allies had forced Mokonyane to make the appointments following her defeat by Mashatile in the internal ANC elections in May.[11][18] Mekgwe served in the Social Development and Health portfolio for less than two years; on 16 July 2012, Mokonyane announced another reshuffle in which Mekgwe replaced Mmemezi as MEC for Local Government and Housing.[19]

In the 2014 general election, Mekgwe was re-elected to a seat in the Gauteng Provincial Legislature,[16] and, with David Makhura and Barbara Creecy, she was also one of three candidates nominated by the Gauteng ANC to succeed Mokonyane as Premier of Gauteng. The provincial party nominated her when its initial nominee, Mandla Nkomfe, asked to be withdrawn from consideration.[20] Sources told the Mail & Guardian that the ANC National Executive Committee had selected Mekgwe for election as Premier: according to the newspaper, Makhura was the preferred candidate of the Mashatile-led Gauteng ANC, but Mekgwe was viewed as "a welcome compromise because of the good relationship she enjoys with top provincial leaders".[21] However, Makhura, not Mekgwe, was ultimately appointed Premier, and Mekgwe was not appointed to his new Executive Council.[16]

Instead, Mekgwe was elected Speaker of the Gauteng Provincial Legislature. Following the 2019 general election, she was re-elected both to her legislative seat and to the Speaker's office.[16] In addition, in November 2021, she was elected to a three-year term as the Treasurer for the Africa region of the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association.[22]