Gaolatlhe Godfrey Oliphant

Gaolatlhe Godfrey Oliphant (born 27 March 1959) is a South African politician and former trade unionist from the Northern Cape. He was the Deputy Minister of Mineral Resources between November 2010 and May 2019. A member of the African National Congress, he served in the National Assembly of South Africa from May 1994 to May 2019, excepting a three-month hiatus in 2009.

Oliphant began his career as a mineworker at De Beers's Finsch mine, where he rose to prominence as a shop steward and organiser for the National Union of Mineworkers. He went on to hold senior office in all three wings of the Tripartite Alliance: he served as deputy provincial chairperson of the ANC in the Northern Cape, as national vice-president of the Congress of South African Trade Unions, and, between 1995 and 2022, as a member of the Central Committee of the South African Communist Party.

Early life and education One of a family of eight, Oliphant was born on 27 March 1959 in Warrenton in the former Cape Province (present-day Northern Cape). He was raised in Warrenton by his mother, who was a domestic worker. A formal recognition agreement was concluded in 1986 and Oliphant was elected as the mine's full-time shop steward in 1988. He served in his seat for the next 25 years, gaining re-election to five consecutive terms. He was briefly absent from the National Assembly for three months after the April 2009 general election, when he failed to gain re-election to his seat, but he was sworn back in on 5 August 2009 to fill the casual vacancy created by Ngconde Balfour's resignation.

During the First Parliament, Oliphant was the inaugural chairperson of the Portfolio Committee on Labour, which at the time was processing the major Labour Relations Bill. In this period he was at the peak of his influence inside the ANC: between 1994 and 1998, he served two terms as deputy provincial chairman of the ANC's Northern Cape branch. Indeed, he was viewed as a plausible candidate to challenge unionist Manne Dipico for the provincial chairmanship of the party. In addition, at the SACP's 9th National Congress in 1995, he was elected to the first of six consecutive terms on the SACP Central Committee.

In later years in Parliament, Olifant chaired the Portfolio Committee on Public Works and Portfolio Committee on Minerals and Energy. Maintaining his interest in political education, he served a stint as chairperson of the study group for ANC committee chairpersons. The Ministry of Mineral Resources had been established after the 2009 election, under the leadership of Minister Susan Shabangu, but it had not had a deputy minister until 2010; Zuma said that he was establishing the deputy post in recognition of the importance of the mining sector to the South African economy. He received only 32 votes to Block's 496.

He nonetheless continued to serve as Deputy Minister of Mineral Resources through the remainder of the Fourth Parliament and the entirety of the Fifth Parliament, a period that spanned the rest of Zuma's presidency. During that time he served under three consecutive Mineral Resources Ministers: Shabangu was succeeded by Ngoako Ramatlhodi after the 2014 general election, and then by Mosebenzi Zwane after a 2015 cabinet reshuffle. His duties included the chairmanship of the Presidential Inter-Ministerial Committee on Revitalising Distressed Mining Communities, which reported directly to President Zuma's office. The Mail & Guardian said that he was "respected for his work in Parliament and his knowledge of the sector", as well as "close to Zuma". Conversely, Miningmx agreed that he was "capable and knowledgeable of the industry" but regarded him as unlikely to be promoted to a cabinet position "owing to the fact he doesn't carry huge favour with Zuma".

After Cyril Ramaphosa took office as president in February 2018, Oliphant was retained as Deputy Minister of Mineral Resources under new Minister Gwede Mantashe. However, he did not seek re-election to Parliament in the May 2019 general election. He continued to serve on the SACP Central Committee until its next national congress in July 2022, after which he dropped off the committee for the first time since 1995.

Personal life Oliphant has been married since 1986 and has three children, two daughters and one son.

As of 2012 he owned seven properties. In January 2014, the SPCA in Kimberley reported that it had sent Oliphant a warning after inspecting his Kaktusplaas farm in Warrenton; it threatened to confiscate the 20 pigs reared on the farm if Oliphant did not improve their living conditions. Oliphant's spokesperson said that the pigs belonged to and were cared for by Oliphant's family but that Oliphant was cooperating fully with SPCA inspectors.