Jerry Ndou

Azwindini Jeremiah "Jerry" Ndou is a South African politician and diplomat who has served as a Delegate to the National Council of Provinces (NCOP) since October 2022. Before that, he represented the African National Congress (ANC) in the Limpopo Provincial Legislature and Limpopo Executive Council.

Formerly an activist in the ANC Youth League, Ndou was a Member of Parliament in South Africa's first democratic Parliament from 1994 to 1999. Between 1999 and 2014, he held diplomatic posts as South African High Commissioner to Zimbabwe, Ambassador to Libya, and Ambassador to Ireland. In early 2014 he was elected Deputy Provincial Chairperson of the ANC in Limpopo, and pursuant to the 2014 general election he became a Member of the Limpopo Provincial Legislature. Stan Mathabatha, then the Premier of Limpopo, appointed him Member of the Executive Council (MEC) for Public Works, Roads and Infrastructure (2014–2017) and MEC for Cooperative Governance, Human Settlement and Traditional Affairs (2017–2019).

Ndou failed to gain re-election as ANC Deputy Chairperson in 2018 but was re-elected to his legislative seat in the 2019 general election and became Deputy Speaker of the Limpopo Provincial Legislature. He left that office, and the provincial legislature, in October 2022, when he filled a casual vacancy in the NCOP.

Early life and activism Ndou was active in South African student and youth politics during apartheid and served as the president of the student representative council while at the University of Venda in present-day Limpopo province. He was later elected to the National Executive Committee of the African National Congress (ANC) Youth League and served as the league's secretary for international affairs. succeeding Kingsley Mamabolo. In his early years in the diplomatic post, Ndou also held key positions inside the Limpopo branch of the ANC, first as ANC Provincial Treasurer from 1996, under Provincial Chairperson George Mashamba, and then as ANC Deputy Provincial Secretary from 1998, under Provincial Chairperson Ngoako Ramatlhodi and Provincial Secretary Benny Boshielo.

He served in his post in Harare until 2005 and during that time served as a mediator in talks between Zimbabwe's ruling ZANU-PF and the opposition Movement for Democratic Change. Later in 2005 he was appointed as the South African High Commissioner to Libya. However, when the party's provincial elective conference was held, Ndou did not run for the Deputy Chairperson position.

Ndou's final diplomatic posting was as a South African Ambassador to Ireland, where he was installed by late 2011.

Career in provincial government

ANC Deputy Chairperson: 2014–2018 In February 2014, at the party's provincial elective conference, Ndou was elected as Deputy Provincial Chairperson of the Limpopo ANC, serving under newly elected Provincial Chairperson Stanley Mathabatha. Ndou reportedly had a particularly strong political base in Limpopo's Vhembe region. In his later years in the party office, he – along with Mathabatha – was viewed as a strong supporter of ANC Deputy President Cyril Ramaphosa and Ramaphosa's campaign to succeed President Jacob Zuma. In 2015, he served simultaneously as acting MEC for Education after the death of the incumbent, Thembisile Nwedamutswu.

In October 2017, in a cabinet reshuffle by Mathabatha, Ndou was appointed MEC for Cooperative Governance, Human Settlement and Traditional Affairs. This was viewed as a promotion for Ndou and, since he replaced a Zuma loyalist (Makoma Makhurupetje), was linked to Ndou's support for Ramaphosa ahead of the ANC's upcoming 54th National Conference. and narrowly beat him in a vote, earning 791 votes to Ndou's 752. However, Ndou was elected to a four-year term as an ordinary member of the Limpopo ANC's Provincial Executive Committee and he served the remainder of his term in the Executive Council. In October 2022, in a reshuffle of the Limpopo government by Mathabatha, Ndou was succeeded as Deputy Speaker by Tshitereke Matibe.

Return to national government Immediately after he was removed as Deputy Speaker in October 2022, Ndou was "re-deployed" as a member of the Limpopo delegation to the National Council of Provinces (NCOP), the upper house of the national Parliament.