Piet Mathebe

Piet Mohlamme Mathebe (16 January 1961 – 24 August 2020) was a South African politician and the traditional leader of Limpopo's Bantwane tribe. Known in the later capacity as Mohlamme III, he led the tribal authority from 1992 until his death in 2020.

Mathebe was also renowned as a supporter of the African National Congress (ANC), which he joined during apartheid. He was recruited into an underground cell of Umkhonto we Sizwe (MK) in the Northern Transvaal in 1987 and, after receiving military training abroad, he was commander of his own cell from 1987.

After the end of apartheid, he represented the ANC in the National Assembly from 1994 to 2012. Thereafter he served as South African High Commissioner to Zambia from 2012 to 2014 and then as a special adviser to Limpopo Premier Stan Mathabatha from 2014 until his death.

Early life and activism Mathebe was born on 16 January 1961. He became involved in youth activism against apartheid as a teenager.

In 1987, during the last year of his undergraduate studies at the University of the North, Mathebe joined the underground of the ANC, which at the time was banned by the apartheid government. He received informal military training from Jerome Maake and became a member of Maake's MK unit, which operated in the Moutse area of the Northern Transvaal.

At the end of 1987, Mathebe left South Africa to receive formal MK military training in Angola. He served three-and-a-half terms in his seat before he retired on 1 October 2012. He was a backbencher in the assembly and represented the Mpumalanga constituency until 2009, when he was elected to represent the Limpopo constituency.

Mathebe left Parliament in 2012 in order to join the diplomatic service, and he served as South African High Commissioner to Zambia from 2012 to 2014. Upon his return to South Africa in 2014, Mathebe was appointed as special advisor to Stan Mathabatha, the Premier of Limpopo. He advised Mathabatha on traditional affairs and economic development.

Personal life and death Mathebe had several children.

President Cyril Ramaphosa granted him a special official provincial funeral, which was held in Moutse and addressed by Premier Mathabatha.