Pule Shayi

Pule Josiah Shayi (born 30 June 1972) is a South African politician who has served as the mayor of Mopani District Municipality since 2019. Before that, he was Mayor of Ba-Phalaborwa Local Municipality from 2016 to 2019. He is best known as the Regional Chairperson of the African National Congress (ANC) in the Mopani region, an office he has held since 2017.

Early life and education Shayi was born on 30 June 1972 in Mashishimale near Phalaborwa in the former Northern Transvaal. He has teaching diploma and a Bachelor of Arts in media studies from the University of South Africa. In addition, in 2015 he visited Beijing to pursue a political development programme at the Party School of the Chinese Communist Party.

Mayor of Ba-Phalaborwa: 2016–2019 Pursuant to the 2016 local elections, Shayi was elected Mayor of Ba-Phalaborwa Local Municipality; he was sworn in on 16 August. Violet Mathye was elected as his deputy and Basikopo Makamu was elected as regional secretary. The outcome was therefore viewed as a serious blow to Deputy President Cyril Ramaphosa, who was running against Dlamini-Zuma for the party presidency.

Mayor of Mopani: 2019–present On 7 June 2019, Shayi was sworn in as Executive Mayor of Mopani District Municipality. His election followed a hotly contested battle among regional ANC leaders to succeed Nkakareng Rakgoale in the mayoral office after Rakgoale was appointed to the Limpopo Executive Council. Shayi was succeeded as Ba-Phalaborwa mayor by Merriam Malatji.

In June 2021, he was re-elected unopposed as regional chairperson of the ANC's Mopani branch (recently renamed after Norman Mashabane). By then, he was viewed as having changed allegiances in favour of Ramaphosa. and he gained re-election to a full term in the mayoral office. In addition, in March 2022 he was elected to the 12-member National Executive Committee of the South African Local Government Association. He is also a member and regional leader of the South African Communist Party. Shayi ultimately did not stand for the chairmanship but instead became the running mate of Dickson Masemola, who sought to challenge the incumbent, Stan Mathabatha, for the chair on a slate which also included Soviet Lekganyane.

When the provincial elective conference opened in Polokwane in June 2022, Shayi was duly nominated to stand for the Deputy Provincial Chairperson position; he ran against the Mathabatha-allied candidate and incumbent, Florence Radzilani. However, when voting closed, Mathabatha and his slate of candidates won a clean sweep of the top leadership positions.