Rubben Mohlaloga

Manyaba Rubben Mohlaloga (born 8 August 1973) is a South African politician, civil servant, and convicted fraudster. He represented the African National Congress (ANC) in the National Assembly from 2004 to 2009 and was deputy president of the ANC Youth League from 2001 to 2008.

After leaving Parliament, Mohlaloga served as a councillor at the Independent Communications Authority of South Africa (ICASA) from 2013 to 2017. He was also briefly the chairperson of ICASA from 2017 to 2019. However, he was suspended from the latter office after being convicted of money laundering and fraud in early 2018. In February 2019, he was sentenced to serve twenty years' imprisonment.

Early life and career Born on 8 August 1973, Mohlaloga completed a Bachelor of Arts in communication and international politics at the University of Africa and a Master of Science in public policy and management at the University of London. From 1997 to 2000, he was a communications officer in the office of the Premier of Limpopo under Premier Ngoako Ramatlhodi; he later joined the administration of the Limpopo Provincial Legislature as a media liaison and public relations manager. He was re-elected to a second term in August 2004, defeating a challenge from Tshilidzi Ratshitanga, and served until April 2008, when he aged out of the league and was succeeded by Andile Lungisa.

National Assembly: 2004–2009 While serving in his ANC Youth League office, Mohlaloga was elected to an ANC seat in the National Assembly in the 2004 general election. President Jacob Zuma approved his appointment as chairperson of the ICASA board with effect from December. However, at the time of his appointment, he was facing charges of fraud and money laundering, and he was convicted in January 2018 .

Because ICASA's rules stipulated that convicted fraudsters could not serve on the board, In March 2019, after Mohlaloga was sentenced to a lengthy prison term, the committee resolved that he should be removed from his ICASA office with immediate effect.

Fraud and money laundering conviction Mohlaloga was convicted of fraud and money laundering in January 2018. Mohlaloga conceded that he had received money from an Agri-BEE grant, but claimed that it was a loan. In January 2023, the Gauteng High Court dismissed the appeals against Mohlaloga's conviction and sentence.