Rob Tooley

Robert William Noel Tooley (born 18 June 1960) is a South African politician and civil servant who served as Limpopo's Member of the Executive Council (MEC) for Treasury from 2015 to 2019 under Premier Stan Mathabatha. He represented the African National Congress (ANC) in the Limpopo Provincial Legislature from 1994 to 2007 and later from 2014 to 2019.

Early life and career Tooley was born on 18 June 1960 in Tzaneen in present-day Limpopo province, then part of the Transvaal. He matriculated at Pretoria Boys High School in 1978 and graduated with a degree in agriculture from Stellenbosch University in 1983. According to Tooley, he joined the ANC in the same year, at the height of apartheid. In April 2010, he moved to the Limpopo Tourism Agency, where he was chief executive officer until 2012. and in June 2014 he was appointed to chair Scopa. On 27 May 2015, he was appointed to the Limpopo Executive Council by Stan Mathabatha, the incumbent Premier of Limpopo, who named him MEC for Treasury in a cabinet reshuffle. The opposition Democratic Alliance and Economic Freedom Fighters both welcomed his appointment.

Tooley remained in the Treasury until 2019 and he was additionally appointed acting MEC for Sports, Arts and Culture, after the incumbent, Onicca Moloi, resigned in 2018. Also in 2018, he entered into a public spat with David Masondo, who had been Treasury MEC between 2011 and 2013, when he allegedly publicly that Masondo and Julius Malema had contributed to the financial mismanagement of the province. Masondo accused Tooley of "lying", pointed out that Tooley had been a public servant in the Treasury only shortly before Masondo was appointed MEC, and suggested that Tooley was attempting to divert attention from ongoing maladministration in his department.

Ahead of the 2019 general election, the Citizen reported that Tooley was one of three individuals whom the party had nominated to stand as the ANC's candidate for Premier of Limpopo; also on the list were Mathabatha and Nandi Ndalane. However, Tooley was only listed 41st on the ANC's party list in the election and he did not secure re-election to his seat in the legislature. In this role he worked alongside Lehlogonolo Masoga, another former MEC, who was appointed chief executive officer of the zone the following month.

Personal life Tooley has three children.