Kgaogelo Lekgoro

Mpetjane Kgaogelo Lekgoro (born 11 October 1957) is a South African politician and diplomat. Before his first appointment as South African Ambassador in 2013, he represented the African National Congress (ANC) in Parliament from 1994 to 2006 and as a Member of the Gauteng Executive Council from 2006 to 2010.

Kgaogelo Lekgoro
Member of the Gauteng Executive Council for Local Government and Housing
In office May 2009 – November 2010
Premier	Nomvula Mokonyane
Preceded by	Qedani Mahlangu (for Local Government) Nomvula Mokonyane (for Housing)
Succeeded by	Humphrey Mmemezi
Member of the Gauteng Executive Council for Social Development
In office March 2006 – May 2009
Preceded by	Bob Mabaso
Succeeded by	Qedani Mahlangu (for Health and Social Development)
Personal details
Born	(1957-10-11) 11 October 1957 (age 67)
Citizenship	South Africa
Political party	African National Congress

Life and career

Lekgoro was born on 11 October 1957.^[1] During apartheid, he was a member of the United Democratic Front in the PWV region that later became Gauteng province.^[2] In the early 1990s, he was a member of the National Executive Committee of the ANC Youth League.^[2]

He was a Member of Parliament from 1994 to 2006 and from 2003^[2] he chaired the National Assembly's Portfolio Committee on Communications.^[3] On 23 March 2006, Mbhazima Shilowa, then the Premier of Gauteng, appointed him as Gauteng's Member of the Executive Council (MEC) for Social Development; he succeeded Bob Mabaso, who had vacated the position earlier in 2006 amid a sexual harassment scandal.^[3] By that time he was also a member of the ANC's Provincial Executive Committee in Gauteng.^[3]

He served as MEC for Social Development until 2009, throughout the rest of Shilowa's term and the brief tenure of Shilowa's successor, Paul Mashatile.^[4] On 8 May 2009, pursuant to the 2009 general election, newly elected Premier Nomvula Mokonyane announced that Lekgoro would be MEC for Local Government and Housing in her new Executive Council.^[5][6] However, in a cabinet reshuffle announced on 2 November 2010, Mokonyane removed him from the Executive Council, appointing him instead as the head of the Gauteng Planning Commission in the Premier's office.^[7]

In 2013, President Jacob Zuma appointed Lekgoro to his first diplomatic posting as South Africa's Ambassador to the United Arab Emirates.^[8] He later served as the Ambassador to Vietnam.^[9]

References

1. "General Notice: Notice 1319 of 1999 – Electoral Commission: Representatives Elected to the Various Legislatures" (PDF). Government Gazette of South Africa. Vol. 408, no. 20203. Pretoria, South Africa: Government of South Africa. 11 June 1999. Retrieved 26 March 2021.
2. "New Chairperson for the Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Communications". National Association of Broadcasters. 3 July 2003. Retrieved 17 January 2023.
3. "New MECs upbeat about working in Gauteng". IOL. 24 March 2006. Retrieved 29 December 2022.
4. "Paul Mashatile's inauguration address". Politicsweb. 7 October 2008. Retrieved 29 December 2022.
5. "Gauteng Department of Community Safety welcomes new MEC: Elias Khabisi Mosunkutu | South African Government". South African Government. 13 May 2009. Retrieved 29 December 2022.
6. "Mokonyane sticks to gender promise". City of Johannesburg. 11 May 2009. Archived from the original on 14 April 2017. Retrieved 13 April 2017.
7. "Premier Nomvula Mokonyane announces new Gauteng Cabinet". South African Government. 2 November 2010. Retrieved 29 December 2022.
8. Mustafa, Awad (30 July 2013). "UAE and South Africa to discuss visa-free travel for citizens". The National. Retrieved 17 January 2023.
9. "Immigration visa row in Vietnam". The Mail & Guardian. 11 October 2019. Retrieved 17 January 2023.