INTRODUCTION

Mohlopi Phillemon “Philly” Mapulane was appointed by the President of the Republic of South Africa, His Excellency President Cyril Ramaphosa, on the 05th of August 2021 as the Deputy Minister of Communications and Digital Technologies

EARLY LIFE

Philly Mapulane is the first-born son of James Thorome Mapulane (late) and Irene Ramadimetja Mapulane. He was born on the 10th of April 1972 at Matlala Hospital in the village called Tsimanyane near the town of Marble Hall within the municipal jurisdiction of Ephraim Mogale Municipality in the Limpopo Province. Philly’s parents relocated to an impoverished rural village in Moutse West called Spitspunt in the same Ephraim Mogale Local Municipal jurisdiction where he was raised. Growing up under conditions of abject poverty contributed to shaping his political consciousness and his resolve to join the National Liberation Struggle and to contribute towards community’s struggles to rid itself of conditions which gave rise to their impoverishment.

MARRIAGE AND FAMILY

Comrade Philly is married to Tsholofelo Mapulane and is blessed with two children, Tshegofatso and Karabo.

EDUCATION (ACADEMIC QUALIFICATIONS)

Philly obtained his Matric in 1991 at Refilwe Senior Secondary School in Moutse. Driven by a passion to equip himself academically, he enrolled in 1994 with Technikon Northern Transvaal, now Tshwane University of Technology, where he obtained a National Diploma in Public Management and Administration in 1996. He added to his academic achievements when he obtained a B-Tech Degree in Public Administration from Technikon South Africa, now incorporated into University of South Africa, in 2002. He enrolled for a Masters Degree in Public Administration (MPA) in 2004 from the University of Pretoria. He studied and has obtained a Certificate Programme in Management Development (CPMD)NQF 6 from the University of the Witwatersrand

PROFFESIONAL CAREER ADMINISTRATIVE

Deputy Minster Mapulane is a seasoned local government practitioner who spend a period of 14 years in local government management and administration. Ten (10) of those years he occupied senior management positions. He joined local government in February 1998 when he was employed by Madibeng Local Municipality and was assigned the responsibility to co-ordinate a project which sought to subsidise Indigent households on their municipal accounts. He went on to develop a policy on indigent support which defined an indigent household and set the minimum threshold for qualification. He subsequently got promoted to various positions in the municipality like Masakhane Co-ordinator, LED Co-ordinator etc.
In August 2001 he was promoted to the position of a Head of a newly established Department of Local Economic Development and Tourism. He served in this position for two years. In February 2003 he was appointed as the Manager: Support Services (Chief Operating Officer) in the Office of the Municipal Manager. He served in this position for four (4) years until he was appointed as the Municipal Manager in January 2007. The employment contract with Madibeng Local Municipality came to an end on the 31 January 2012.
One of the highlights of his career in local government was his participation in a three (3) months International Leadership Exchange Programme between the Institute of Local Government Management of South Africa (iLGM) (a professional institute of Municipal Managers) and the Society for Local Authority Chief Executives (SOLACE), which is a professional institute of Chief Executives of local authorities in the United Kingdom. As part of this programme, Philly spend 3 months in the UK daily shadowing various Chief Executives of local authorities in the UK. Most of this time was spend in England. As a result of this role, he acquired extensive international exposure on the management practices by leading administrators in charge of big cities, like the City of London.