Nomvula Mokonyane is the Premier of Gauteng province

Provinces of South Africa

South Africa is currently divided into nine provinces. On the eve of the 1994 general election, South Africa's former homelands, also known as Bantustans, were reintegrated and the four existing provinces were divided into nine. The twelfth, thirteenth and sixteenth amendments to the constitution...

, South Africa

South Africa

The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...

 following the 2009

2009 in South Africa

-February:* 4 February – Jacob Zuma appeared in the Pietermaritzburg High Court.* 4 February – Jimmy Mohlala a Mbombela Local Council Municipality speaker was shot dead in his Nelspruit home...

 South African general election

South African general election, 2009

South Africa held national and provincial elections to elect a new National Assembly as well as the provincial legislature in each province on 22 April 2009....

. She was formerly the Gauteng MEC for Housing and has been a member of the provincial legislature since 1994. Mokonyane is also a member of the National Executive Committee

National Executive Committee (African National Congress)

The ANC National Executive Committee is the chief executive organ of the South African political party, the African National Congress. It is elected at every National Conference; the executive committee, in turn, elects a National Working Committee for day-to-day decision-making responsibilities.On...

 (NEC) of the African National Congress

African National Congress

The African National Congress is South Africa's governing Africanist political party, supported by its tripartite alliance with the Congress of South African Trade Unions and the South African Communist Party , since the establishment of non-racial democracy in April 1994. It defines itself as a...

 elected at the 52nd national conference

52nd National Conference of the African National Congress

The 52nd National Conference of the African National Congress was held in Polokwane, Limpopo from December 16 to December 20, 2007. It elected Jacob Zuma and supporters to the party's top leadership and National Executive Committee , representing a significant defeat for Thabo Mbeki, then the...

 in 2007 in Polokwane

Polokwane

Polokwane, meaning "Place of Safety",is a city in the Polokwane Local Municipality and the capital of the Limpopo province, South Africa. It is also often referred to by its former name, Pietersburg. Polokwane is a major urban centre, the biggest and most important north of Gauteng. The population...

.

Her selection by the NEC came as a surprise given that the incumbent Paul Mashatile

Paul Mashatile

Paul Mashatile is the current Minister of Arts and Culture in the Cabinet of South Africa.He is the former Premier of Gauteng province in South Africa and a member of the African National Congress...

 was widely expected to retain the post. The ANC decides nationally on premiers (of provinces in which it has majorities) and then instructs provincial MPs to elect their nominee in the official election.

The ANC Youth League

African National Congress Youth League

The African National Congress Youth League is the youth wing of the African National Congress.-Foundation:Its foundation in 1944 by Nick Gombart, Ashley Peter Mda, Nelson Mandela, Walter Sisulu and Oliver Tambo marked the rise of a new generation of leadership of South Africa's black African...

 was among the most prominent critics of the decision, and indeed called on the ruling party to reconsider and reappoint Mashatile, who had earlier taken over from Mbhazima Shilowa

Mbhazima Shilowa

Mbhazima Samuel Shilowa is a South African politician. A former Premier of Gauteng province while a member of the African National Congress, Shilowa left the party to help form the opposition Congress of the People, with whom he is the Deputy President...

 on the latter's defection from the ANC to form the breakaway party Congress of the People.