Mavuso Msimang

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Mavuso Walter Msimang
Born(1941-10-19)19 October 1941
Edendale, outside Pietermaritzburg
NationalitySouth African
Alma materUniversity of Zambia
Known forPolitics
Political partyAfrican National Congress

Mavuso Walter Msimang (born 19 October 1941) is a South African civil servant and politician. He is a co-founder of African Parks, a Johannesburg-based conservation organization, and has also served as CEO of South African National Parks (SANparks). In the 1960s, he was a member of the military high command of uMkhonto we Sizwe (MK), the armed wing of the African National Congress (ANC).

Early life and education[edit]

Msimang lived with his grandmother in Jobstown, outside Newcastle, where he attended primary school. In 1960 he matriculated at Inkamana High School, a catholic school in Vryheid.[1]

In 1976, he graduated from the University of Zambia with a Bachelor of Science in entomology, specialising in biochemistry.[1] He also holds a Master of Business Administration from the United States International University, California.[2]

Early political involvement[edit]

In the 1960s he was stationed at the ANC military base in Kongwa, Tanzania, and 1967 was Chief of Communications of MK.[3] MK was a banned organisation which worked to topple the apartheid government in South African from the 1960s through to the early 1990s, when the country transitioned to majority rule.[4]

He moved to Zambia, where there was a large community of South African ANC members living in exile. Here he met his wife, Ntombi, who was an accountant, and had three daughters, including the writer and political analyst Sisonke Msimang.[5] He earned a BSc in entomology and biology from the University of Zambia in 1976, and a master's degree in business administration in 1984 from the United States International University while living in Kenya. USIU was later taken over by Alliant International University.[6]

Msimang worked as a UN volunteer from 1977[7] and later worked for the UN's World Food Programme in Kenya and Zambia between 1977 and 1984. From 1984 to 1987 he worked in both Ethiopia and Ottawa, Canada, for the World University Service of Canada (WUSC).[8] From 1987 to 1991 he was the country director in Kenya for CARE Canada, and from 1991 to 1993 he was a senior project officer for UNICEF in Ethiopia and Eritrea.

Post-apartheid career[edit]

Msimang moved back to South Africa after the end of apartheid with his family in 1993–1994,[9][7] initially to Durban, where he worked as a business consultant and CEO of the Umthombo Pride Trust, before being appointed executive director of South African Tourism. He became CEO of South African National Parks in 1997,[10] which had begun a major re-conceptualisation from 1994.[11]

He was CEO at the State Information Technology Agency from October 2003 and 2007, before being appointed Director-General of the Department of Home Affairs in 2007. He retired from this role in 2010.[12]

Msimang was one of the founders of African Parks Network, and is as of 2021 Emeritus Board Member.[7] He has been a member of the World Wildlife Fund South Africa Board since February 2011, and as of 2021 and chairs the Social Ethics and Transformation Committee as well as sitting on the Board's Remuneration and Human Resources and Nomination Committees.[13]

In the wake of diminished support for the ANC in the 2021 municipal elections, he has been critical of the factional politics within the party, in his capacity as a member of the ANC National Executive Committee.[14] He did not stand for re-election to the NEC at the party's 55th National Conference in 2022.[15]

During the third national conference of the African National Congress Veterans' League held in July 2023, Msimang was elected unopposed as deputy president of the league.[16]

Msimang resigned from the ANC in December 2023, citing endemic corruption and its consequences for the country, especially the poor.[17] A week later it was reported that he had withdrawn his resignation after discussions with the Secretary General of the ANC, Fikile Mbalula.[18]

Controversies[edit]

Msimang was accused of misappropriating funds from the Umthombo Pride Trust where he was CEO between 1993 and 1994. These claims were never proven and he blamed dismissed employees for the allegations.[19]

In 2007 while CEO of SITA Msimang was accused of sexual harassment. Charges were filed but later withdrawn.[19] He blamed the media for circulating the allegations without getting his side of the story.[20] One of his daughters, Sisonke Msimang, later wrote a piece defending her father from the allegations and criticising the media and feminists for their reactions.[21] She also stated that the accuser was one of her former colleagues.

References[edit]

  1. ^ a b "Mavuso Msimang has travelled the world and held a variety of positions". Sowetan Live. 12 March 2007. Retrieved 5 November 2021.
  2. ^ "Mavuso Walter Msimang". South African History Online. First created 9 September 2011. 23 August 2019. Retrieved 5 November 2021.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: others (link)
  3. ^ "Mavuso Walter Msimang". South African History Online. First created 9 September 2011. 23 August 2019. Retrieved 6 July 2021.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: others (link)
  4. ^ "uMkhonto weSizwe (MK) Timeline 1961-1990". South African History Online. Retrieved 6 July 2021.
  5. ^ "Long journey home". The West Australian. 23 August 2018. Retrieved 4 July 2021.
  6. ^ "uMkhonto weSizwe (MK) Timeline 1961-1990". South African History Online. Retrieved 6 July 2021.
  7. ^ a b c "Mavuso Msimang". African Parks. Retrieved 6 July 2021.
  8. ^ "uMkhonto weSizwe (MK) Timeline 1961-1990". South African History Online. Retrieved 6 July 2021.
  9. ^ "Sisonke Msimang". ABC: Q+A. 27 May 2019. Retrieved 6 July 2021.
  10. ^ "uMkhonto weSizwe (MK) Timeline 1961-1990". South African History Online. Retrieved 6 July 2021.
  11. ^ Annual Report 2018/19 (PDF). South African National Parks (Report). 2019. ISBN 9780621475401.
  12. ^ "Mavuso Msimang". WWF South Africa. Retrieved 6 July 2021.
  13. ^ He also chairs Corruption Watch, and serves on a range of civic society, environmental management and private sector boards.
  14. ^ Makhaye, Chris; Mkhize, Nce (4 November 2021). "RET knives out for Ramaphosa: Zuma faction mobilises to blame party president for poor ANC showing". Daily Maverick. Retrieved 5 November 2021.
  15. ^ "FULL LIST: ANC NEC members | eNCA". www.enca.com. Retrieved 30 July 2023.
  16. ^ Koko, Khaya. "Kgalema Motlanthe lauds gender, race mix in ANC Veterans' League executive committee". News24. Retrieved 30 July 2023.
  17. ^ Masuabi, Queenin (7 December 2023). "ANC veteran of 60 years Mavuso Msimang 'painfully' severs ties, tenders devastating resignation". Daily Maverick.
  18. ^ Maeko, Thando (14 December 2023). "Mavuso Msimang withdraws resignation from ANC after meeting with Mbalula". Business Day.
  19. ^ a b Webb, Boyd (27 October 2007). "'No one asked for my side of sex-pest saga'". IOL. Archived from the original on 12 December 2023. Retrieved 12 December 2023.
  20. ^ "Sex charges baseless - Msimang". IOL. 22 May 2007. Archived from the original on 12 December 2023. Retrieved 12 December 2023.
  21. ^ Msimang, Sisonke (12 November 2007). "My father the 'sex pest'". Mail and Guardian. Archived from the original on 12 December 2023. Retrieved 12 December 2023.
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