Penuell Maduna

Born in Johannesburg on 29 December 1952,[1] Maduna grew up in Rockville, Soweto.[3] His mother and grandmother were both domestic workers, and the latter was a member of the African National Congress (ANC).[3] While at the University of Zululand, he occupied leadership positions in the South African Students' Organisation,[4] and he has cited Black Consciousness figures as influential for him during this period.[3] He was detained and charged in the aftermath of the 1976 Soweto uprising, and, once released, spent the 1980s in exile with the ANC, which was banned inside South Africa at the time.[1][4]

Maduna's exile included spells in Maputo, Mozambique, where he lived with Albie Sachs; in New York; and at the ANC headquarters in Lusaka, Zambia.[3] In Lusaka, he was a founding member of the ANC's Constitutional Committee,[5] and he attended many of the ANC's early consultative meetings with white South African business and civil society representatives.[6] After the ANC was unbanned in 1990, he became part of the ANC's delegation during the formal negotiations to end apartheid.[2][4] In 1991, he was elected to the National Executive Committee of the ANC, and he was re-elected in that capacity until the 2007 Polokwane conference.

When the ANC won South Africa's first democratic elections, he was appointed Deputy Minister of Home Affairs under President Nelson Mandela.[7] In 1996, when the departure of the National Party from the transitional Government of National Unity occasioned a cabinet reshuffle, he was elevated to Ministry of Mineral and Energy Affairs.[8] In 1999, newly elected President Thabo Mbeki appointed him Minister of Justice and Constitutional Development.[9] He served in that office for a single term, resigning from the cabinet and from politics after the 2004 elections.[1]

After his retirement from politics, Maduna's first significant venture was as chairperson and part-owner of Tshwarisano, a consortium which acquired 25% of petrochemicals company Sasol in a R1.45-billion black economic empowerment deal.[10][11][12] He has since become chairperson of SAB Zenzele, a black economic empowerment partner of South African Breweries.[13][14] He has also held senior positions at law firm Bowman Gilfillan (including the vice chairmanship),[15] and business interests in platinum mining, property, and banking.[16]

In June 1997, Maduna claimed in Parliament that the Auditor-General, Henry Kluever, had covered up R170-million in theft at the Strategic Fuel Fund.[18][19][20] The Public Protector, Selby Baqwa, subsequently found that by making this claim Maduna had "violated the spirit of the Constitution,"[21] and he recommended that disciplinary action should be taken against Maduna.[22] A specially appointed parliamentary committee also found that Maduna's conduct had been unparliamentary and had violated parliamentary rules.[21]

In October 1997, Maduna was one of several ANC politicians whom opposition MP Patricia de Lille publicly accused of having spied for the apartheid government.[23] She repeated the accusation – which Maduna denied – in later years.[24]

In 2003, Maduna became embroiled in controversy around the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA), then led by Bulelani Ngcuka and overseen by Maduna's ministry. Amid NPA investigations into Arms Deal corruption by ANC politicians, including Deputy President Jacob Zuma, Zuma allies accused Maduna and Ngcuka of pursuing politically motivated prosecutions.[24] ANC donor and mining magnate Brett Kebble also made various allegations against Maduna.[24] The terms of reference of the Hefer Commission, a judicial commission of inquiry into allegations against Ngcuka, were extended to investigate whether Maduna had abused his powers at the NPA,[25] and Maduna announced shortly afterwards that he intended to step down after the 2004 elections.[24] The Hefer Commission did not ultimately investigate Maduna,[26] but Maduna continued to defend Ngcuka against misconduct allegations by Zuma, leading to a highly public spat with the Public Protector Lawrence Mushwana.[27][28]