Employment news

Know your Minister

Rosinah Mpye

On 11 April 2009, Minister Col- lins Chabane was sworn in as Minister in The Presidency in charge of Performance Management and Monitoring and Administration, becoming the first minister to serve in this position.

Ohm Collins Chabane was born on 15 April 1960 in Xikundu Village, Limpopo. He joined the ANC’s underground activities when he was only 17 years old and went to exile in May 1980.

In 1984, he was arrested and served a term in Robben Island. On his release in 1990, he continued to serve the ANC in Limpopo (then known as the Northern Transvaal) as the Provincial Secretary until 1998.

After the 1994 elections, Chabane was elected to serve as an MP in the National Assembly where he participated in the Constitutional and Management Commit- tees: Constitutional Assembly, the Joint Committee on Defence and Intelligence and the Standing Committee: Finance, Minerals and Energy Affairs.

In 1997, he was re-deployed to Limpopo where he was appointed as MEC in the office of Premier Ngoako Ramatlhodi’s. In 1998, he was appointed MEC for the Department of Public Works and leader of government business in the Legislature. In 2005, Chabane was appointed as MEC for Economic Development, Environment and Tourism. At the ANC’s 52nd National Congress held in Polokwane in December 2007, Chabane was re-elected into the National Executive Committee.

Today, he is responsible for creating greater cohesion and effective systems in government and to alert the appropriate departments when problems arise. The National Youth Development Agency (NYDA) is also his responsibility.

Chabane is a former Chancellor of Mbulaheni Ramaano Training College in the Vhembe District. He holds a Diploma in Leadership and Management from the Turfl Graduate School of Leadership under the University of Limpopo and a Diploma in Management from Esomi in Arusha, Tanzania.