Ngoako Ramatlhodi (born 21 August 1955), a senior member of the African National Congress, was South Africa's Minister of Public Service and Administration from 2015[1][2] to March 2017. In the first Zuma administration he had been an MP and a controversial member of the Judicial Service Commission. He resigned as MP in 2017.[3]
Ngoako Ramatlhodi | |
|---|---|
| 1st Premier of Limpopo | |
| In office 10 May 1994 – 22 April 2004 | |
| Deputy Minister of Correctional Services | |
| In office 1 November 2010 – 25 May 2014 | |
| President | Jacob Zuma |
| Minister of Mineral Resources | |
| In office 25 May 2014 – 23 September 2015 | |
| President | Jacob Zuma |
| Minister of Public Service and Administration | |
| In office 23 September 2015 – 31 March 2017 | |
| President | Jacob Zuma |
| Deputy | Godfrey Oliphant |
| Preceded by | Susan Shabangu |
| Succeeded by | Mosebenzi Zwane |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 21 August 1955 Northern Transvaal, South Africa |
| Political party | African National Congress |
Up to 2015 he was Minister of Mineral Resources. Ramatlhodi claimed in 2017 that Eskom chairperson Ben Ngubane and chief executive Brian Molefe requested that he terminate Glencor's mining licenses in an apparent ruse to facilitate the sale of its Optimum coal mine to the Gupta family.[3][4] He was assigned to his subsequent ministerial post after he supposedly did not comply.
He was axed in the cabinet reshuffle of March 2017, allegedly without being given reasons.[5] His position was taken by a known Zuma ally, the then Free State economic development MEC Mosebenzi Zwane. In the same reshuffle, finance minister Pravin Gordhan and his deputy, Mcebisi Jonas, were also replaced. He is also a former spy for the apartheid government, recruited while still a student in Lesotho, a real sell out.