Nozuko Majola-Pikoli

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Nozuko Majola-Pikoli
Member of the National Assembly
In office
1994–1996
Personal details
Born
Nozuko Temperance Majola
CitizenshipSouth Africa
Political partyCongress of the People
African National Congress
SpouseVusi Pikoli
ChildrenPhumlani Pikoli

Nozuko Temperance "Girly" Majola-Pikoli (née Majola) is a South African civil servant, businesswoman, and politician. She represented the African National Congress (ANC) in the National Assembly from 1994 until 1996, when she joined the civil service.

Life and career[edit]

During apartheid, Majola-Pikoli and her husband lived in exile with the ANC, which was banned inside South Africa. She was active in the ANC Women's Section, the informal substitute for the then-dormant ANC Women's League.[1] She returned to South Africa in 1990.[2]

In South Africa's first post-apartheid elections in 1994, Majola-Pikoli was elected to represent the ANC in the new National Assembly.[3] She did not complete her term in the seat,[4] leaving in 1996 to join the civil service.[5] During the same period, she was among the group of ANC Women's League leaders who obtained a joint stake in Dyambu Holdings, the correctional services company that later became Bosasa.[6][7]

In early 2000, Majola-Pikoli and Barry Gilder were appointed as the dual deputy directors-general in the National Intelligence Agency.[8] She later trained at the South African National Defence Force college and then took up a position at South African Airways, which she left in 2007 due to ill health.[9]

In late 2008, Majola-Pikoli emerged as a key organiser for the Congress of the People (COPE), an opposition party which had recently been formed as a breakaway from the ANC. She drafted COPE's policy document on the criminal justice system[9] and was elected to the party's 30-member national executive committee when the party was formally launched in December 2008.[10]

Personal life and family[edit]

She is married to Vusi Pikoli, a lawyer and former ANC activist who served as head of the National Prosecuting Authority from 2005 to 2007. Their son, author and artist Phumlani Pikoli, died in April 2021.[11]

In October 2009, Majola-Pikoli was named during the criminal trial of former police chief Jackie Selebi, whose prosecution on corruption charges had been spearheaded by her husband. Selebi told the South Gauteng High Court that he was being prosecuted because he had discovered that Pikoli and his predecessor, Bulelani Ngcuka, had improper business dealings; specifically, he alleged that Pikoli had received "material gratification through his wife from the late Brett Kebble/JCI Group in an improper way", insofar as Majola-Pikoli had been given shares in Simmer and Jack, a mining company.[12] Selebi said that he had confronted Pikoli about the "gratification" and that Pikoli had become "very emotional" and told him that Majola-Pikoli was his "Achilles' heel".[12] In another hearing later the same week, Glenn Agliotti confirmed that the Kebble family had given Majola-Pikoli shares worth R20 million.[13]

Pikoli's lawyer denied that the Pikolis had received any gratification, saying that Majola-Pikoli had no business dealings with Kebble and had never owned shares in Simmer & Jack. She owned a two per cent stake in Vulisango Limited, taken up on the invitation of her friend, Lizo Njenje.[12] Vulisango, in turn, owned shares in Simmer and Jack with an estimated value of several million rand.[14]

References[edit]

  1. ^ SPEAK: Issues 21–46. SPEAK Collective. 1988. p. 20.
  2. ^ Brill, Alida (1995). A Rising Public Voice: Women in Politics Worldwide. Feminist Press at CUNY. p. 109. ISBN 978-1-55861-111-5.
  3. ^ South Africa: Campaign and Election Report April 26–29, 1994. International Republican Institute. 1994. Retrieved 13 April 2023 – via Yumpu.
  4. ^ "Members of the National Assembly". Parliament of South Africa. 3 June 1998. Archived from the original on 28 June 1998. Retrieved 12 April 2023.
  5. ^ "All Power to the Party: A DP discussion document". Politicsweb. 11 August 2021. Retrieved 27 May 2023.
  6. ^ Basson, Adriaan (21 October 2019). Blessed by Bosasa: Inside Gavin Watson's State Capture Cult. Jonathan Ball Publishers. ISBN 978-1-77619-003-4.
  7. ^ "Deporting for cash". The Mail & Guardian. 7 February 1997. Retrieved 27 May 2023.
  8. ^ Gilder, Barry (2012). Songs and Secrets. Jacana Media. ISBN 978-1-4314-0436-0.
  9. ^ a b "Eminent leaders wives' club sign up for Cope". The Mail & Guardian. 9 December 2008. Retrieved 27 May 2023.
  10. ^ "A new congress born in Africa". The Mail & Guardian. 19 December 2008. Retrieved 27 May 2023.
  11. ^ Shoba, Sandisiwe (14 April 2021). "'His best work was ahead of him': Tributes stream in for author and artist Phumlani Pikoli". Daily Maverick. Retrieved 27 May 2023.
  12. ^ a b c "Selebi playing victim, says Pikoli". The Mail & Guardian. 5 October 2009. Retrieved 27 May 2023.
  13. ^ "Missed some of the drama? Here's what happened, day by day". News24. 10 October 2009. Retrieved 27 May 2023.
  14. ^ Brkic, Branko (22 November 2009). "Seven-and-a-half-million pieces of silver?". Daily Maverick. Retrieved 27 May 2023.
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