Jerry Thibedi

Jerry Dimotana Thibedi (born 7 April 1954) is a South African politician who represented the African National Congress (ANC) in the National Assembly from 2010 to 2019 and in the North West Provincial Legislature from 1994 to 2009. He was the inaugural Speaker of the North West Provincial Legislature between 1994 and 1999 and subsequently served in the North West Executive Council between 1999 and 2009 under Premiers Popo Molefe and Edna Molewa.

Formerly a prominent trade unionist and anti-apartheid activist in the Transvaal, Thibedi also served as Deputy Provincial Chairperson of the North West ANC from 1998 to 2005. He has been a member of the Central Committee of the South African Communist Party since 1998.

Early life and education Thibedi was born on 7 April 1954 in Makapanstad outside Hammanskraal in the present-day North West Province. He matriculated at Ithuteng Commercial School in Makapanstad in 1974. Almost a decade later, at the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, officers of the police's Security Branch applied for amnesty in connection with the attack, confessing to attempted murder and conspiracy to commit murder.

Legislative career

North West Speaker: 1994–1999 In South Africa's first post-apartheid elections in 1994, Thibedi was elected to represent the ANC in the North West Provincial Legislature, where he served as the inaugural Speaker of the North West Provincial Legislature from 1994 to 1999. Also in 1998, he was elected for the first time to the Central Committee of the South African Communist Party (SACP). He effectively remained in this portfolio throughout Molewa's term, though Molewa reconfigured it twice: in August 2005, he became MEC for Roads, Transport and Safety, and in May 2007, he became MEC for Public Works.

National Assembly: 2009–2014 In the 2009 general election, Thibedi was not re-elected to the provincial legislature. Instead, on 19 August 2010, he was sworn in to fill a casual vacancy in the National Assembly, the lower house of the South African Parliament. In June 2013, he was elected to chair the Portfolio Committee on Rural and Agrarian Reform, succeeding Stone Sizani, who had been appointed Majority Chief Whip.

Retirement He did not stand for re-election to Parliament in 2014, but instead retired to Tshwane. He has served continuously in the SACP Central Committee since 1998 and was re-elected to the committee in 2022.