Gwede Mantashe

Samson Gwede Mantashe (born 21 June 1955) is a South African politician and former trade unionist who is currently serving as the Minister of Mineral and Petroleum Resources. He has been responsible for the mineral resources portfolio since February 2018, formerly as Minister of Mineral Resources from February 2018 to May 2019 and then as Minister of Mineral Resources and Energy from May 2019 to June 2024. He is also serving his second term as the national chairperson of the African National Congress (ANC).

Born in the Eastern Cape, Mantashe rose to political prominence through the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM), which he joined at his workplace at Matla Colliery. He rose through the union's ranks, becoming a full-time organiser in 1988 and then deputising Kgalema Motlanthe as the NUM's assistant general secretary from 1994 to 1998. He succeeded Motlanthe as general secretary from 1998 to 2006. During this period, he was also an influential member of the Central Committee and Politburo of the South African Communist Party (SACP).

After he ceded his union office to Frans Baleni in May 2006, Mantashe worked briefly at the Development Bank of Southern Africa. At the ANC's 52nd National Conference in Polokwane in December 2007, he was elected as secretary-general of the ANC, a full-time position which he held for a decade, gaining re-election in December 2012. He served concurrently as national chairperson of the SACP from 2007 to 2012. During his tenure as ANC secretary-general, he had a controversial role in defending President Jacob Zuma against internal dissent and allegations of state capture.

After two terms as secretary-general, Mantashe was elected as ANC national chairperson at the party's 54th National Conference in December 2017. President Cyril Ramaphosa appointed him to the cabinet shortly thereafter, with his portfolio enlarged after the 2019 general election and then shrunk again after the 2024 general election. His public-facing work as minister has been dominated by the ongoing energy crisis in South Africa and by proposals for a so-called just energy transition. In that context, Mantashe has been criticised for his overt interest in coal, natural gas, and powerships, arguably at the expense of investment in renewable energy sources. He was elected to a second term as ANC national chairperson in December 2022, by then an important political ally of President Ramaphosa, and he remains a member of the SACP Central Committee.