Vytjie Mentor

Mabel Patronella "Vytjie" Mentor (born 19 October 1963) is a South African politician who served as a Member of the National Assembly of South Africa from 2002 until 2014. She represented the African National Congress and served as the party's caucus chairperson between 2004 and 2008. She was chairperson of the portfolio committee on public enterprises from 2009 to 2010.

The Honourable

Vytjie Mentor
Mentor in February 2019
Member of the National Assembly of South Africa
In office
2002–2014
Chairperson of the ANC parliamentary caucus
In office
2004–2008
Preceded byJoyce Kgoali
Succeeded byNcumisa Chwayita Kondlo
Personal details
Born
Mabel Patronella Mentor

(1963-10-19) 19 October 1963
NationalitySouth African
Political partyThe People's Dialogue (2020–present)
Other political
affiliations		African Christian Democratic Party (2019–2020)
African National Congress (Until 2019)
Alma materUniversity of the Witwatersrand
UNISA
ProfessionPolitician

Early life and education

Mabel Patronella Mentor was born on 19 October 1963 in the former Cape Province of South Africa. She matriculated from Batlhaping High School in Taung. She studied at Hebron Theological College, East Rand College, and the University of the Witwatersrand. She also studied through UNISA.[1]

Parliamentary career

Mentor was a long-standing member of the African National Congress. She was sworn in as an MP in 2002 and re-elected to her first full term in the 2004 general election.[2][3] She was named the chairperson of the party's caucus and succeeded Joyce Kgoali. She held the position until 2008, when Ncumisa Chwayita Kondlo was announced as her successor.[4]

Mentor was re-elected to a second term in the 2009 general election.[4] The ANC designated her to be the chairperson of the Portfolio Committee on Public Enterprises.[5][6][7] In 2010, she accompanied president Jacob Zuma on a state visit to China. This generated controversy. The ANC launched a probe and found that Transnet had paid for her trip.[4] She was later demoted as chairperson of the committee after it was found that she had improperly asked for sponsorship. Mentor left Parliament before the 2014 general election.[4]

State capture

In March 2016, Mentor claimed that in 2010 the Gupta family, on behalf of Zuma, offered her the position of Minister of Public Enterprises, if she could arrange that South African Airways drop their Johannesburg to Mumbai route, so that Jet Airways could acquire it.[8][9] She declined the position. She also claimed that the meeting happened at the family's Saxonwold home and that Zuma was in another room.[10] The family denied that the meeting took place and Zuma said he had no recollection of Mentor.[11][12] In August 2018, she testified at The Judicial Commission of Inquiry into Allegations of State Capture.[13] She was cross-examined in February 2019 after some parts of her testimony were found to be inconsistent. Mentor has defended her testimony.[14][15]

Later career

Mentor resigned from the ANC in March 2019 and joined the African Christian Democratic Party.[16] In July 2020, Herman Mashaba, head of The People's Dialogue, announced that Mentor had joined the organisation.[17]

Publications
  • Mentor, Vytjie (2017). No Holy Cows: Moments in My Political Life: 2002-2017. ISBN 9780620763141
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References
  1. "Vytjie Mentor". Retrieved 9 August 2020.
  2. Thamm, Marian (21 July 2017). "Lone Ranger: Vytjie Mentor on the groper president and the ANC's lost soul". The Daily Maverick. Retrieved 10 August 2020.
  3. Jacobs, Yasmine (17 March 2016). "All you need to know about Vytjie Mentor". IOL. Retrieved 9 August 2020.
  4. Quintal, Genevieve (16 March 2020). "5 things you might not remember about Vytjie Mentor". News24. Retrieved 9 August 2020.
  5. "ANC names chairpersons of parliamentary committees". Politicsweb. 21 May 2014. Retrieved 9 August 2020.
  6. Engelbrecht, Leon (22 May 2019). "ANC names candidate portfolio committee chairs". DefenceWeb. Retrieved 9 August 2020.
  7. "Election of Chairperson". PMG. Retrieved 9 August 2020.
  8. "Vytjie Mentor, the China trip and the Guptas' plans for SAA". City Press. 27 August 2018. Retrieved 10 August 2020.
  9. Joubert, Jan-Jan (20 March 2016). "Vytjie Mentor tearfully opens up about Guptas". The Sunday Times. Retrieved 9 August 2020.
  10. "Vytjie Mentor: I can prove Zuma was with me in the Gupta house". BusinessLIVE. 17 March 2016. Retrieved 9 August 2020.
  11. Khoza, Amanda (15 March 2016). "Gupta family denies offering former ANC MP top job". News24. Retrieved 9 August 2020.
  12. "'Zuma has no recollection of Vytjie Mentor'". IOL. Johannesburg. 16 March 2016. Retrieved 10 August 2020.
  13. "WATCH: Vytjie Mentor testifies at state capture inquiry". eNCA. 27 August 2018. Retrieved 9 August 2020.
  14. "LIVE FEED: #StateCaptureInquiry February 11, 2019". IOL. 11 February 2019. Retrieved 9 August 2020.
  15. Lekabe, Thapelo (12 February 2019). "#StateCapture: 5 discrepancies from Vytjie Mentor's testimony". Johannesburg. EWN. Retrieved 10 August 2020.
  16. Mkhwanazi, Siyabonga (26 March 2019). "BREAKING: Former ANC MP Vytjie Mentor joins ACDP". IOL. Parliament. Retrieved 9 August 2020.
  17. "WATCH: ANC whistleblower Vytjie Mentor joins Mashaba's new party". The Citizen. 23 July 2020. Retrieved 9 August 2020.
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