{{Short description|South African politician (1944–2016)}} {{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}} {{Infobox officeholder | name = Makhenkesi Stofile | office = Chancellor of the University of Fort Hare | successor = Dumisa Ntsebeza | predecessor = Thembile Skweyiya | office1 = South African Ambassador to Germany | president1 = Jacob Zuma | office2 = Minister of Sport and Recreation | president2 = Thabo Mbeki<br />Kgalema Motlanthe<br />Jacob Zuma | predecessor2 = Ngconde Balfour | successor2 = Fikile Mbalula | deputy2 = Gert Oosthuizen | term_start = 5 May 2016 | term_end = 15 August 2016 | term_start1 = 1 June 2011 | term_end1 = December 2015 | term_start2 = 29 April 2004 | term_end2 = 31 October 2010 | order4 = | office3 = 2nd Premier of the Eastern Cape | term_start3 = 4 February 1997 | term_end3 = 26 April 2004 | predecessor3 = Raymond Mhlaba | successor3 = Nosimo Balindlela | office4 = Chief Whip of the Majority Party | term_start4 = May 1994 | term_end4 = February 1997 | 1blankname4 = Speaker | 1namedata4 = Frene Ginwala | predecessor4 = ''Office established'' | successor4 = Max Sisulu {{Collapsed infobox section begin |last=yes |Party offices<br />{{nobold|1994–2006}} |titlestyle=border:1px dashed lightgrey;}}{{Infobox officeholder |embed=yes | office5 = Provincial Chairperson of the Eastern Cape African National Congress | term_start5 = 1996 | term_end5 = December 2006 | successor5 = Stone Sizani | predecessor5 = Dumisani Mafu | deputy5 = Stone Sizani<br />Enoch Godongwana | office6 = Treasurer of the African National Congress | term_start6 = December 1994 | predecessor6 = Thomas Nkobi | president6 = Nelson Mandela | term_end6 = December 1997 | successor6 = Mendi Msimang {{Collapsed infobox section end}} }} | birth_name = Makhenkesi Arnold Stofile | party = African National Congress | birth_date = {{Birth date|df=yes|1944|12|27}} | birth_place = Adelaide, Cape Province<br />Union of South Africa | death_date = {{Death date and age|df=yes|2016|08|15|1944|12|27}} | death_place = Alice, South Africa | spouse = Nambitha Siwisa | nickname = {{flatlist| *Stof *Bra Stof *Mfundisi}} | alma_mater = University of Fort Hare<br />Princeton University | predecessor1 = Sonwabo Eddie Funde | successor1 = Stone Sizani }} '''Makhenkesi Arnold Stofile''' (27 December 1944 – 15 August 2016) was a South African politician and anti-apartheid activist who served as the second Premier of the Eastern Cape from 1997 to 2004. After that, he was Minister of Sport and Recreation from 2004 to 2010. He was also a member of the National Executive Committee of the African National Congress (ANC).
Born in the Eastern Cape, Stofile was an ordained minister of the Presbyterian Church of Southern Africa and spent much of the apartheid era as a theologian at the University of Fort Hare. At the same time, he had joined the ANC underground in 1970; in 1983, he became involved in the United Democratic Front, both as regional secretary in the Border Region and as a member of the national executive. In 1987, he was convicted of a political offence and imprisoned in the Ciskei for three years. Himself an accomplished rugby player, Stofile was also an active figure in non-racial sports administration in the Eastern Cape, and he co-founded the South African Council on Sport in 1989.
After the end of apartheid in 1994, Stofile joined the National Assembly as the ANC's inaugural Majority Chief Whip. He held that position until February 1997, when he returned to his home province to replace Raymond Mhlaba as Premier of the Eastern Cape. He was also the national Treasurer of the ANC from 1994 to 1997 and its Provincial Chairperson in the Eastern Cape from 1996 to 2006.
Stofile returned to the national government after the April 2004 general election, appointed as Minister of Sport and Recreation in the second cabinet of President Thabo Mbeki. During his tenure in the ministry, South Africa hosted the 2010 FIFA World Cup. After President Jacob Zuma sacked Stofile from the cabinet in October 2010, he served as South African Ambassador to Germany between 2011 and 2015, when he retired.
== Early life and education == Stofile was born on 27 December 1944 on a farm in Adelaide in the former Cape Province.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |date=21 August 2016 |title=Obituary: Makhenkesi Stofile, UDF leader and premier who led E Cape to meltdown |url=https://www.timeslive.co.za/sunday-times/opinion-and-analysis/2016-08-21-obituary-makhenkesi-stofile-udf-leader-and-premier-who-led-e-cape-to-meltdown/ |access-date=2023-07-29 |website=Sunday Times |language=en-ZA}}</ref> He was the eldest of seven sons born to Simon and Tozana Stofile, who were farm labourers. In 1952, his family moved to Port Elizabeth,<ref name=":2">{{Cite web |date=2000 |title=Honorary Doctorates: Makhenkesi Stofile |url=https://www.mandela.ac.za/Leadership-and-Governance/Honorary-Doctorates/Makhenkesi-Stofile-2000 |access-date=29 July 2023 |website=Nelson Mandela University}}</ref> where Stofile matriculated at Newell High School in 1964.<ref name=":3">{{Cite web |date=29 April 2004 |title=Stofile no stranger to sport |url=https://www.news24.com/news24/stofile-no-stranger-to-sport-20040429 |access-date=2023-07-29 |website=News24 |language=en-US}}</ref> Thereafter he worked as a machine operator at a textile factory in Port Elizabeth from 1965 to 1968.<ref name=":4">{{Cite web |title=Makhenkesi Arnold Stofile, Rev |url=https://www.gov.za/about-government/contact-directory/makhenkesi-arnold-stofile-rev-1 |access-date=2023-07-29 |website=South African Government}}</ref> He left this job after he received a bursary from the Presbyterian Church of Southern Africa, apparently at the urging of Reverend J. J. R. Jolobe.<ref name=":2"/>
He went on to study at the University of Fort Hare, where he completed four degrees: a Bachelor of Arts in 1971, a Bachelor of Theology in 1974, an Honours in theology in 1975, and a Master's in theology in 1979.<ref name=":4"/> He completed a diploma in theology at the University of Tübingen in 1981,<ref name=":5">{{Cite web |date=1 June 2011 |title=Accreditation of Ambassador Reverend Dr Makhenkesi Arnold Stofile |url=https://www.suedafrika.org/en/news-archive/newsarchive-details/datum/2011/06/01/accreditation-of-ambassador-reverend-dr-makhenkesi-arnold-stofile/print.html |access-date=2023-07-29 |website=South African Embassy to the Federal Republik of Germany |archive-date=29 July 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230729213145/https://www.suedafrika.org/en/news-archive/newsarchive-details/datum/2011/06/01/accreditation-of-ambassador-reverend-dr-makhenkesi-arnold-stofile/print.html |url-status=dead }}</ref> and a second Master's at Princeton University in 1983.<ref name=":4"/>
== Early career and activism == After his graduation, he remained at Fort Hare until 1986 as a senior lecturer in theology, systematic theology,<ref name=":6">{{Cite web |date=2007-07-15 |title=Arnold Stofile |url=http://www.anc.org.za/people/stofile_ma.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070715085924/http://www.anc.org.za/people/stofile_ma.html |archive-date=2007-07-15 |access-date=2023-07-29 |website=African National Congress}}</ref> and philosophy of religion.<ref name=":4"/> He had also been ordained as a minister in the Presbyterian Church while a postgraduate student in 1975.<ref name=":4"/>
While working in academia, Stofile became increasingly politically active in the anti-apartheid movement. He had entered politics in 1963 as a teenaged member of the African Students Association, a front organisation for the anti-apartheid African National Congress (ANC), which had been banned since 1960.<ref name=":6"/> In 1970, he was recruited into the underground of the ANC,<ref name=":2"/> and he rose through the ranks to become chairperson of the local area political committee from 1979 to 1986.<ref name=":4"/> According to one of his political aides, he received military training with Umkhonto we Sizwe.<ref name=":7">{{Cite web |last=Mbindwane |first=Bo |date=16 August 2016 |title='Ubani Ozofakaza Ngawe?'; Makhenkesi Arnold Stofile 1944–2016 |url=https://www.news24.com/news24/xarchive/voices/makhenkesi-arnold-stofile-1944-2016-20180719 |access-date=2023-07-29 |website=News24 |language=en-US}}</ref>
When the United Democratic Front (UDF) was established in 1983, Stofile was elected as UDF regional secretary in the Border Region of the Eastern Cape.<ref name=":0"/> He therefore played an important role in establishing the front's structures in the area;<ref name=":8">{{Cite web |date=15 August 2016 |title=Former sports minister Makhenkesi Stofile has died |url=https://www.sowetanlive.co.za/news/2016-08-15-former-sports-minister-makhenkesi-stofile-has-died/ |access-date=2023-07-29 |website=Sowetan |language=en-ZA}}</ref> for example, he recruited Matthew Goniwe, one of the Cradock Four who were assassinated in 1985.<ref name=":0"/> He was also elected to the UDF's national executive committee.<ref>{{Cite web |date=1988-07-07 |title=Surprise: Top UDF leader walks free |url=https://mg.co.za/article/1988-07-08-00-surprise-top-udf-leader-walks-free/ |access-date=2023-07-29 |website=The Mail & Guardian |language=en-ZA}}</ref> He held both offices from 1983 until his arrest in 1986.<ref name=":2"/><ref name=":4"/> {{Quote box | quote = We either surrender to them or fight. We have decided to fight. You also have two options: you either join with us or we fight against you. | source = – Stofile's address at Victoria Mxenge's funeral in the Ciskei, August 1985<ref>{{Cite news |date=1985-08-12 |title=Violence erupts at a black's rites in a 'homeland' |language=en |work=New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1985/08/12/world/violence-erupts-at-black-s-rites-in-a-homeland.html |access-date=2023-07-29}}</ref> | align = right | width = 23% }}
=== Non-racial sport === Stofile had been involved in non-racial sports administration at several levels since 1965, particularly in rugby, cricket, and netball;<ref name=":4"/><ref name=":17">{{Cite book |last1=Stober |first1=Paul |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=dlfp0OKUxCIC&q=arnold+stofile+the+guardian |title=The Mail & Guardian A-Z of South African Politics: The Essential Handbook |last2=Ludman |first2=Barbara |date=2004 |publisher=Jacana Media |isbn=978-1-77009-023-1 |pages=134–6 |language=en}}</ref> among other positions, he served as president of the Victoria East Rugby Union and as a member of the executive council of the South African Rugby Football Union.<ref name=":2"/><ref name=":9">{{Cite journal |last=Booth |first=Douglas |date=2003 |title=Hitting Apartheid for Six? The Politics of the South African Sports Boycott |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/3180648 |journal=Journal of Contemporary History |volume=38 |issue=3 |pages=477–493 |doi=10.1177/0022009403038003008 |jstor=3180648 |s2cid=145730533 |issn=0022-0094|url-access=subscription }}</ref> He was himself an accomplished rugby player – playing scrum half and wing, he was captain of the Fort Hare First XV and of the Border team<ref name=":10">{{Cite web |last=Mbalula |first=Fikile |date=21 August 2016 |title=Bra Stof a distinct rugby administrator |url=https://www.news24.com/citypress/sport/bra-stof-a-distinct-rugby-administrator-20160820 |access-date=2023-07-29 |website=City Press |language=en-US}}</ref><ref name=":6"/> – and he coached rugby at the junior and club level from 1974 onwards.<ref name=":4"/>
In 1984,<ref name=":0"/> Stofile established a dedicated "cultural desk" within the UDF, which included sports matters.<ref name=":9"/> Later the same year, he spearheaded a successful UDF campaign against a planned All Blacks tour of South Africa; representing the UDF, he travelled to New Zealand to provide evidence in a related court case.<ref name=":0"/><ref>{{Cite web |last=Gay |first=Edward |date=2021-10-09 |title=The case that stopped the tour: How a group of lawyers stopped the All Blacks from playing in apartheid South Africa |url=https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/300418381/the-case-that-stopped-the-tour-how-a-group-of-lawyers-stopped-the-all-blacks-from-playing-in-apartheid-south-africa |access-date=2023-07-29 |website=Stuff |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=2012-08-20 |title=Anti-apartheid campaigner to visit Rugby Union headquarters |url=https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/113722/anti-apartheid-campaigner-to-visit-rugby-union-headquarters |access-date=2023-07-29 |website=RNZ |language=en-nz}}</ref> Upon his return to South Africa, he was detained for four months.<ref name=":6"/>
=== Prison sentence === In early 1986, Stofile was a member of a UDF delegation to a strategy meeting with exiled ANC leaders in Sweden.<ref name=":0"/> Upon his return, he was arrested in the Ciskei,<ref name=":6"/> accused of harbouring terrorists.<ref name=":10"/><ref name=":6"/> In May 1987, he was convicted under the Internal Security Act of terrorism, illegal possession of weapons, and furthering the aims of the outlawed ANC. He was sentenced to 11 years in prison.<ref>{{Cite news |date=1987-05-26 |title=Apartheid Foe Sentenced |language=en |work=New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1987/05/26/world/apartheid-foe-sentenced.html |access-date=2023-07-29}}</ref> However, he served only three years: he was released in 1989 ahead of the negotiations to end apartheid.<ref name=":6"/>
=== Transition to democracy === Later in 1989, Stofile – with Mluleki George and Krish Naidoo – launched the National Sports Congress, a non-racial competitor to the South African Council on Sport that was comfortable with supporting mass-based anti-apartheid organisation.<ref name=":9"/> He served as vice-president of the congress.<ref name=":2"/> Working with the mass democratic movement, it staged large-scale protests against an English cricket tour of South Africa in 1989 to 1990, forcing the South African Cricket Union to negotiate a shortened tour.<ref name=":9"/> During the negotiations to end apartheid, the congress was prominent in campaigns to normalise sport in the country.<ref name=":0"/> According to John Carlin, Stofile was, with Steve Tshwete, one of the main advocates in the ANC for the normalisation of sport as a route to fostering national unity; rugby, Stofile famously said, was "the opium of the Boer".<ref>{{Cite book |last=Carlin |first=John |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=iaeMEAAAQBAJ |title=Playing the Enemy: Nelson Mandela and the Game That Made a Nation |date=2009-07-28 |publisher=National Geographic Books |isbn=978-0-14-311572-4 |language=en}}</ref>
At the same time, the ANC was unbanned by the apartheid government in 1990, and Stofile joined the internal leadership corps that worked to re-establish the party's legal structures inside South Africa.<ref name=":4"/> He was elected as the regional chairperson of the party's branch in the Border Region.<ref name=":6"/> The following year, at the ANC's 48th National Conference in July 1991, Stofile was elected to the ANC's National Executive Committee. He received 1,546 votes across roughly 2,000 ballots, making him the tenth-most popular member of the 50-member committee.<ref name=":12">{{Cite web |date=6 July 1991 |title=Report of the Independent Electoral Commission |url=https://www.anc1912.org.za/48th-national-conference-report-of-the-independent/ |access-date=17 November 2022 |website=African National Congress}}</ref> He also resumed his academic career, joining the University of Transkei as a senior theology lecturer in 1991 and then returning to Fort Hare as director of public relations and development from 1992 to 1994.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Makhenkesi Arnold Stofile, Rev |url=http://www.info.gov.za/gol/gcis_profile.jsp?id=3642 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120612064957/http://www.info.gov.za/gol/gcis_profile.jsp?id=3642 |archive-date=12 June 2012 |access-date=2023-07-29 |website=South African Government}}</ref>
== National Assembly: 1994–1997 == === Chief Whip of the Majority Party === In the April 1994 general election, Stofile was elected to represent the ANC in the National Assembly, the lower house of the new post-apartheid Parliament of South Africa. He was the inaugural Chief Whip of the Majority Party in the first democratic parliament. Stofile later said of his appointment, "I got the shock of my life. I didn't even know what this thing was".<ref name=":11">{{Cite web |last=Davis |first=Gaye |date=25 February 2014 |title=Culture clash with guitars |url=https://www.news24.com/news24/culture-clash-with-guitars-20150429 |access-date=2023-07-29 |website=News24 |language=en-US}}</ref> He said that he had immediately gone to the parliamentary library to ask for resources about being chief whip, and he was later surprised to learn that MPs would receive salaries.<ref name=":11"/>
In Stofile's summation, "I became a counsellor, a guide, a resource and information centre. I was like the village schoolmaster."<ref name=":11"/> The ''Mail & Guardian'' described him as notably "laidback" as chief whip,<ref name=":13">{{Cite web |date=1997-10-30 |title='Pay as you go' for ANC MPs |url=https://mg.co.za/article/1997-10-30-pay-as-you-go-for-anc-mps/ |access-date=2023-07-29 |website=The Mail & Guardian |language=en-ZA}}</ref> but he provoked the ire of Jennifer Ferguson – whom he prevented from addressing the house by singing the words of a Bertolt Brecht poem to music – among other MPs.<ref name=":11"/> In addition, by the end of 1994, Parliament had amended its rules to broaden the definition of parliamentary "spouses", for benefits purposes, among other things. Stofile said of the change:<blockquote>We wanted the people of South Africa to see that human interaction cannot be forced into narrow, religious, ceremonial relationships. There are other valid forms of partnership than the traditional Christian heterosexual marriage, and we needed to take note of that. If we are talking about a rainbow nation, we must also accept a rainbow of traditions and a rainbow of norms.<ref>{{Cite web |date=1994-12-23 |title=The new SA has a different position on everything |url=https://mg.co.za/article/1994-12-23-the-new-sa-has-a-different-position-on-everything/ |access-date=2023-07-29 |website=The Mail & Guardian |language=en-ZA}}</ref></blockquote>
=== Election as ANC treasurer === At the ANC's 49th National Conference, held in Bloemfontein in December 1994, Stofile was elected to a three-year term as national treasurer of the ANC, succeeding Thomas Nkobi.<ref name=":1">{{Cite web |date=20 December 1994 |title=49th National Conference: National Executive Committee as elected at Conference |url=https://www.anc1912.org.za/49th-national-conference-national-executive-committee-as-elected-at-conference/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211109171914/https://www.anc1912.org.za/49th-national-conference-national-executive-committee-as-elected-at-conference/ |archive-date=2021-11-09 |access-date=2021-12-04 |website=African National Congress |language=en-US}}</ref> He was elected unopposed after Henry Makgothi and Sam Motsuenyane withdrew their candidacy, although the ''Mail & Guardian'' reported that ANC president Nelson Mandela had backed Motsuenyane.<ref>{{Cite web |date=1994-12-22 |title=Mandela nominates Motsuenyane |url=https://mg.co.za/article/1994-12-23-mandela-nominates-motsuenyane/ |access-date=2021-12-11 |website=The Mail & Guardian |language=en-ZA}}</ref> In his capacity as treasurer, Stofile froze the funding of the ANC Women's League, then led by Winnie Madikizela-Mandela; in 1996, he and Tshwete, then the ANC's head of organising, were appointed to provide interim leadership of the league amid divisions between Madikizela-Mandela and other senior women, including Adelaide Tambo.<ref>{{Cite web |date=1996-09-13 |title=Leagues away from unity |url=https://mg.co.za/article/1996-09-13-leagues-away-from-unity/ |access-date=2023-07-29 |website=The Mail & Guardian |language=en-ZA}}</ref>
=== Election as ANC chairperson === Also in 1996, Stofile was elected to succeed Dumisani Mafu as Provincial Chairperson of the ANC's Eastern Cape branch. Serving alongside him were Stone Sizani, as his deputy, and Humphrey Maxegwana, as Provincial Secretary.<ref name=":34">{{Cite web |date=1997-12-17 |title=50th National Conference: Report of the Secretary General |url=https://www.anc1912.org.za/50th-national-conference-report-of-the-secretary-general-provincial-reports/ |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221128234926/https://www.anc1912.org.za/50th-national-conference-report-of-the-secretary-general-provincial-reports/ |archive-date=28 November 2022 |access-date=29 November 2022 |website=African National Congress}}</ref> He continued to serve concurrently as national treasurer until his term as treasurer expired at the next national party conference in December 1997; Mendi Msimang was elected, unopposed, to succeed him.<ref>{{Cite news |date=1997-12-19 |title=Terror Lekota bounces back as ANC Chair |work=Sowetan |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=vwkmAQAAMAAJ |access-date=2021-12-10}}</ref>
== Premier of the Eastern Cape: 1997–2004 == In February 1997, Stofile left the National Assembly to take office as Premier of the Eastern Cape, succeeding Raymond Mhlaba.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Southall |first=Roger |date=1998 |title=The Centralization and Fragmentation of South Africa's Dominant Party System |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/723341 |journal=African Affairs |volume=97 |issue=389 |pages=443–469 |doi=10.1093/oxfordjournals.afraf.a007966 |jstor=723341 |issn=0001-9909|url-access=subscription }}</ref> His promotion to this office had been expected for some time,<ref>{{Cite web |date=1996-11-07 |title=Heads to roll in Eastern Cape |url=https://mg.co.za/article/1996-11-08-heads-to-roll-in-eastern-cape/ |access-date=2023-07-29 |website=The Mail & Guardian |language=en-ZA}}</ref> and he was replaced as Chief Whip by Max Sisulu.<ref name=":13"/> Although frequently admired as a "no-nonsense politician",<ref>{{Cite web |date=1999-12-23 |title=How the premiers performed in 1999 |url=https://mg.co.za/article/1999-12-23-how-the-premiers-performed-in-1999/ |access-date=2023-07-29 |website=The Mail & Guardian |language=en-ZA}}</ref><ref name=":17"/> he was criticised for presiding over mismanagement and administrative disarray in the Eastern Cape.<ref name=":0"/> In 1998, for example, the provincial government discovered that, due to an "oversight" by Stofile, its annual budget had not been gazetted as required by the Constitution, meaning that the last six months of expenditure had technically been illegal.<ref>{{Cite web |date=1998-10-02 |title=E Cape bungling breaks the law |url=https://mg.co.za/article/1998-10-02-e-cape-bungling-breaks-the-law/ |access-date=2023-07-29 |website=The Mail & Guardian |language=en-ZA}}</ref> In 2002, the press published a leaked copy of a letter from Mkhuseli Jack to President Thabo Mbeki in which Jack accused Stofile of poor governance and urged for him to be dismissed.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Mdoda |first=Wilberforce |date=4 August 2002 |title=Fire Stofile, calls ANC leader |url=https://www.news24.com/news24/fire-stofile-calls-anc-leader-20020804 |access-date=2023-07-29 |website=News24 |language=en-US}}</ref>
The ''Mail & Guardian'' said that Stofile's appointment was likely due more to his grassroots popularity than to his competence.<ref name=":17"/> However, the same newspaper also complimented his HIV/AIDS policy: unlike several other premiers, Stofile supported mother-to-child transmission prevention programmes, including through nevirapine access.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2002-08-08 |title=Stofile looks set to retain E Cape leadership |url=https://mg.co.za/article/2002-08-08-stofile-looks-set-to-retain-e-cape-leadership/ |access-date=2023-07-29 |website=The Mail & Guardian |language=en-ZA}}</ref>
=== National management team === On 28 November 2002, President Mbeki announced that the national government, concerned "for some time... about the quality of the administration in the Eastern Cape", would send a multi-sector management team to the Eastern Cape to investigate service delivery lapses in the province.<ref>{{Cite web |date=29 November 2002 |title=Probe into E Cape 'corruption' |url=https://www.news24.com/news24/probe-into-e-cape-corruption-20021128 |access-date=2023-07-29 |website=News24 |language=en-US}}</ref> With the approval of the cabinet, the team was appointed by Public Service and Administration Minister Geraldine Fraser-Moleketi.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2001-12-31 |title=Crack team to probe corruption in Eastern Cape |url=https://mg.co.za/article/2002-01-01-crack-team-to-probe-corruption-in-eastern-cape/ |access-date=2023-07-29 |website=The Mail & Guardian |language=en-ZA}}</ref> In April 2003, Fraser-Moleketi reported to the press that the team had found a "province in shambles", but Stofile said that her assessment was "unscientific... 'Shambles' is a very strong term."<ref name=":18"/> He also dismissed Fraser-Moleketi's report that the team had found a backlog of 800 disciplinary cases, saying that the figure of 800 was "not a revelation, but a confirmation of what we had already".<ref name=":18"/>
=== Re-election as ANC chairperson === During his tenure as premier, Stofile continued to serve as ANC Provincial Chairperson, gaining re-election to a second and third term in that office. His re-election in 2002 involved the resounding defeat of a challenge to his incumbency by Mluleki George, who was the favoured candidate of the national ANC leadership under President Mbeki.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2003-04-04 |title=E Cape ANC elections stalled again |url=https://mg.co.za/article/2003-04-04-e-cape-anc-elections-stalled-again/ |access-date=2023-07-29 |website=The Mail & Guardian |language=en-ZA}}</ref> After the national leadership found that some preparatory meetings had been inquorate, the same election was re-run in 2003, now with an even stronger majority for Stofile over George.<ref name=":46">{{Cite web |date=26 April 2003 |title=Stofile re-elected by wide margin |url=https://www.news24.com/news24/stofile-re-elected-by-wide-margin-20030426 |access-date=2022-11-28 |website=News24 |language=en-US}}</ref> The demand that the election be re-run had come amidst rumours that Stofile, along with other Eastern Cape politicians, was part of a leftist conspiracy to oust Mbeki from the party presidency.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2002-11-21 |title=Behind the ANC's crackdown in E-Cape |url=https://mg.co.za/article/2002-11-22-behind-the-ancs-crackdown-in-ecape/ |access-date=2023-07-29 |website=The Mail & Guardian |language=en-ZA}}</ref>
== Minister of Sport and Recreation: 2004–2010 == As early as April 2003, Stofile was presumed unlikely to be reappointed as Premier after the April 2004 general election.<ref name=":18">{{Cite web |date=2003-04-11 |title=Battle begins for leadership of Eastern Cape |url=https://mg.co.za/article/2003-04-11-battle-begins-for-leadership-of-eastern-cape/ |access-date=2023-07-29 |website=The Mail & Guardian |language=en-ZA}}</ref> Instead, after that election, he was appointed to Mbeki's second-term cabinet, succeeding Ngconde Balfour as Minister of Sport and Recreation.<ref name=":14">{{Cite web |date=28 April 2004 |title=Mbeki's cabinet list |url=https://www.news24.com/news24/mbekis-cabinet-list-20040428 |access-date=2023-07-29 |website=News24 |language=en-US}}</ref> The ''Mail & Guardian'' referred to the office as "relatively lowly" and as a "sop" for losing the premiership.<ref name=":15">{{Cite web |date=2008-01-09 |title=Who's who in the Zu(ma) NWC |url=https://mg.co.za/article/2008-01-10-whos-who-in-the-zuma-nwc/ |access-date=2023-07-29 |website=The Mail & Guardian |language=en-ZA}}</ref> Although Vincent Ngema of the Inkatha Freedom Party was initially named as his deputy minister,<ref name=":14"/> Gert Oosthuizen filled that office instead.<ref>{{Cite news |date=10 May 2004 |title=Deputy ministers sworn in at Tuynhuys |work=allAfrica |url=https://allafrica.com/stories/200405101022.html |access-date=29 July 2023}}</ref>
Stofile was appointed to the ministry shortly before FIFA announced that South Africa had won the right to host the 2010 Soccer World Cup.<ref name=":3"/> Overseeing the tournament and related preparations constituted a large portion of Stofile's responsibilities over the next six years. The ministry also backed an unsuccessful South African bid to host the 2011 Rugby World Cup.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2005-01-31 |title=Govt officially supports Rugby World Cup bid |url=https://mg.co.za/article/2005-01-31-govt-officially-supports-rugby-world-cup-bid/ |access-date=2023-07-29 |website=The Mail & Guardian |language=en-ZA}}</ref> In September 2009, he said there would be a "third world war" if the International Association of Athletics Federations prevented Caster Semenya from competing at the World Championship;<ref>{{Cite news |date=2009-09-11 |title=Caster Semenya sanction would produce 'third world war', says South African minister |language=en-GB |work=The Guardian |url=https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2009/sep/11/caster-semenya-hermaphrodite-claim-south-africa |access-date=2023-07-29 |issn=0261-3077}}</ref> and in 2010, he encouraged the New Zealand Rugby Union and South African Rugby Union to apologise to Maori players who had been excluded from All Blacks tours of South Africa in 1928, 1949, and 1960.<ref>{{Cite web |date=9 May 2010 |title=South Africa pledges support to Maori ABs |url=https://www.nzherald.co.nz/kahu/south-africa-pledges-support-to-maori-abs/4NLT66G7XYVNPKRIHKVFOAZCRU/ |access-date=2023-07-29 |website=The New Zealand Herald |language=en-NZ}}</ref>
Stofile was also involved in the ongoing debate about racial quotas in team sports. In June 2004, Stofile had announced the scrapping of such quotas in favour of renewed emphasis on codes of conduct and sports development strategies;<ref>{{Cite web |date=2004-06-03 |title=Let's monitor performance |url=https://mg.co.za/article/2004-06-04-lets-monitor-performance/ |access-date=2023-07-29 |website=The Mail & Guardian |language=en-ZA}}</ref> new legislation was later introduced, but Stofile announced conclusively in November 2007 that "Quotas are out", saying that, "Quotas were used only for window-dressing for international consumption."<ref>{{Cite news |last=Adamson |first=Mike |date=2007-11-07 |title=South Africa scrap racial quotas proposal |language=en-GB |work=The Guardian |url=https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2007/nov/07/rugbyunion.southafrica |access-date=2023-07-29 |issn=0261-3077}}</ref>
=== Succession as ANC chairperson === Stofile stepped down as ANC Provincial Chairperson upon the expiry of his third term in December 2006.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2006-12-03 |title=Stone Sizani named as Eastern Cape ANC leader |url=https://mg.co.za/article/2006-12-03-stone-sizani-named-as-eastern-cape-anc-leader/ |access-date=2023-07-29 |website=The Mail & Guardian |language=en-ZA}}</ref> His rivalry with Mluleki George continued,<ref>{{Cite web |date=2006-06-16 |title=Divided we fall |url=https://mg.co.za/article/2006-06-16-divided-we-fall/ |access-date=2023-07-29 |website=The Mail & Guardian |language=en-ZA}}</ref> as each backed opposing sides in the race to take over the chairmanship: Stofile reportedly supported Mcebisi Jonas, while George supported the winning candidate, Stone Sizani.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2006-11-24 |title=A fight to crown a king |url=https://mg.co.za/article/2006-11-24-a-fight-to-crown-king/ |access-date=2023-07-29 |website=The Mail & Guardian |language=en-ZA}}</ref>
After Stofile vacated his provincial position, Cosatu touted him as a possible candidate for election as National Chairperson of the ANC, were the frontrunner, Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma, to become unavailable.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2007-10-26 |title=Cosatu says there's no ANC wish list |url=https://mg.co.za/article/2007-10-26-cosatu-says-theres-no-anc-wish-list/ |access-date=2023-07-29 |website=The Mail & Guardian |language=en-ZA}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=2012-05-31 |title=Numsa supports Zuma Inc |url=https://mg.co.za/article/2012-05-31-numsa-supports-zuma-inc/ |access-date=2023-07-29 |website=The Mail & Guardian |language=en-ZA}}</ref> The Congress of South African Trade Unions also reportedly supported his nomination to the National Executive Committee,<ref>{{Cite web |date=2007-10-25 |title=Cosatu's wish list |url=https://mg.co.za/article/2007-10-26-cosatus-wish-list/ |access-date=2023-07-29 |website=The Mail & Guardian |language=en-ZA}}</ref> as did supporters of Jacob Zuma, who were planning to oust Mbeki from the party presidency.<ref name=":15"/> At the ANC's next national conference, held in December 2007 in Polokwane, Stofile was elected to the National Executive Committee; he received 2,151 votes across roughly 4,000 ballots, making him the 12th-most popular candidate of the 80 ordinary members elected to the committee.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2007-12-20 |title=Shake-up in ANC national executive |url=https://mg.co.za/article/2007-12-20-shakeup-in-anc-national-executive/ |access-date=2023-07-29 |website=The Mail & Guardian |language=en-ZA}}</ref> He was also elected to the ANC's National Working Committee.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2008-01-08 |title=Who made it on to ANC's working committee? |url=https://mg.co.za/article/2008-01-08-who-made-it-on-to-ancs-working-committee/ |access-date=2023-07-29 |website=The Mail & Guardian |language=en-ZA}}</ref>
=== Dismissal === Stofile remained in the Sport and Recreation portfolio throughout Mbeki's second term, and he was retained in the cabinet of President Kgalema Motlanthe and then in the cabinet of President Jacob Zuma. However, the ''Mail & Guardian'' reported in March 2010 that Zuma had included Stofile only "to show his commitment to ANC unity" and that the pair had since clashed in cabinet meetings about the FIFA World Cup; according to the newspaper, Stofile was in line to be sacked.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2010-03-12 |title=Reshuffle jitters in Cabinet |url=https://mg.co.za/article/2010-03-12-reshuffle-jitters-in-cabinet/ |access-date=2023-07-29 |website=The Mail & Guardian |language=en-ZA}}</ref> Indeed, in a reshuffle announced on 31 October 2010, Zuma dismissed Stofile and replaced him with Fikile Mbalula.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2010-10-31 |title=Zuma replaces seven ministers in reshuffle |url=https://mg.co.za/article/2010-10-31-zuma-replaces-seven-ministers-in-cabinet-reshuffle/ |access-date=2023-07-29 |website=The Mail & Guardian |language=en-ZA}}</ref> Stofile resigned from the National Assembly the following day, ceding his seat to Crosby Moni.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Members of the National Assembly |url=http://www.pmg.org.za/node/30336 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140209085913/http://www.pmg.org.za/node/30336 |archive-date=9 February 2014 |access-date=2 March 2023 |website=Parliamentary Monitoring Group}}</ref>
== Ambassador to Germany: 2011–2015 == In early 2011, Stofile was announced as Zuma's Ambassador-Designate to Germany.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2011-02-28 |title=From the presidency to 'ice-cream mission' to Zim |url=https://mg.co.za/article/2011-02-28-from-the-presidency-to-icecream-mission-zim/ |access-date=2023-07-29 |website=The Mail & Guardian |language=en-ZA}}</ref> He was accredited in Berlin on 1 June 2011,<ref name=":5"/> and he remained in the post until December 2015,<ref>{{Cite web |date=10 December 2015 |title=Farewell Message by Ambassador Rev Dr Makhenkesi A. Stofile |url=https://www.suedafrika.org/newsarchiv/newsarchiv-details/datum////farewell-message-by-ambassador-rev-dr-makhenkesi-a-stofile/print.html |access-date=2023-07-29 |website=Südafrikanische Botschaft in der Bundesrepublik Deutschland}}</ref> when he retired.<ref name=":0"/> His term on the ANC National Executive Committee expired in December 2012 and he failed to gain re-election.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2012-12-20 |title=Full list of 80 newly elected additional members of the ANC NEC |url=https://www.sabcnews.com/sabcnews/full-list-of-80-newly-elected-additional-members-of-the-anc-nec/ |access-date=2023-07-29 |website=SABC News |language=en-US}}</ref>
== Personal life and death == Apart from his proficiency in South African languages, Stofile read and wrote Greek, Hebrew and German. He played lawn-tennis since primary school and was the national champion in ballroom dance from 1972 to 1975, partnering his wife; according to his spokesperson, he was strongest at the tango.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2007-12-05 |title=How do SA Cabinet members unwind? |url=https://mg.co.za/article/2007-12-05-how-do-sa-cabinet-members-unwind/ |access-date=2023-07-29 |website=The Mail & Guardian |language=en-ZA}}</ref> Later in his life, he began coaching rugby again, including while he was ambassador in Germany.<ref name=":7"/> His brother, Mike Stofile, was a senior official in Border Rugby and later in the South African Rugby Union.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2010-03-26 |title=Rugby for the connoisseur |url=https://mg.co.za/article/2010-03-26-rugby-for-the-connoisseur/ |access-date=2023-07-29 |website=The Mail & Guardian |language=en-ZA}}</ref> At his brother's funeral in October 2015, Stofile joked that he "died on the day the Springboks were beaten by Japan. I see he was disgusted and he decided to go."<ref>{{Cite web |date=5 October 2015 |title=Mbalula lambasts Saru at Stofile's funeral |url=https://www.dispatchlive.co.za/news/2015-10-05-mbalula-lambasts-saru-at-stofiles-funeral/ |access-date=2023-07-29 |website=Daily Dispatch |language=en-ZA}}</ref>
In 2003, the ''Mail & Guardian'' wrongly reported that Nomvuyiso Stofile, an ANC candidate for the Eastern Cape Provincial Legislature, was Stofile's wife.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2003-11-27 |title=A case of the Aussie whine |url=https://mg.co.za/article/2003-11-28-a-case-of-the-aussie-whine/ |access-date=2023-07-29 |website=The Mail & Guardian |language=en-ZA}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=2003-12-11 |title=Not enough noise |url=https://mg.co.za/article/2003-12-12-not-enough-noise/ |access-date=2023-07-29 |website=The Mail & Guardian |language=en-ZA}}</ref> He was in fact married for over thirty years to Nambitha Stofile.<ref name=":5"/> Their son Sikhulule, a 21-year-old student at Varsity College, was killed in a car accident in Rondebosch, Cape Town on 29 May 1999.<ref>{{Cite web |date=1999-05-31 |title=Stofile's son killed |url=https://mg.co.za/article/1999-05-31-stofiles-son-killed/ |access-date=2023-07-29 |website=The Mail & Guardian |language=en-ZA}}</ref> They also had two daughters.<ref name=":5"/> His wife's business interests – particularly a directorship in a security company and safari company, both of which held contracts with the Eastern Cape Provincial Government – were occasionally a source of contention in the media during Stofile's premiership.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2001-03-02 |title=Premier's wife awarded govt tender |url=https://mg.co.za/article/2001-03-02-premiers-wife-awarded-govt-tender/ |access-date=2023-07-29 |website=The Mail & Guardian |language=en-ZA}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=2001-03-23 |title=Another govt contract for Premier's wife |url=https://mg.co.za/article/2001-03-23-another-govt-contract-for-premiers-wife/ |access-date=2023-07-29 |website=The Mail & Guardian |language=en-ZA}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=2001-03-23 |title=Stofile's wife in tender wrangle |url=https://mg.co.za/article/2001-03-23-stofiles-wife-in-tender-wrangle/ |access-date=2023-07-29 |website=The Mail & Guardian |language=en-ZA}}</ref> The couple denied that Stofile was exposed to any conflict of interest.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2004-05-28 |title=Government wives cash in |url=https://mg.co.za/article/2004-05-28-government-wives-cash-in/ |access-date=2023-07-29 |website=The Mail & Guardian |language=en-ZA}}</ref> In addition, Stofile's brother-in-law, Hintsa Siwisa, was chairperson of the South African Oil Company, a politically connected company that was involved in a controversial Nigerian oil deal.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2003-05-30 |title=Who are the real beneficiaries? |url=https://mg.co.za/article/2003-05-30-who-are-the-real-beneficiaries/ |access-date=2023-07-29 |website=The Mail & Guardian |language=en-ZA}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=2003-06-06 |title=Oil saga: Replies don't fly |url=https://mg.co.za/article/2003-06-06-oil-saga-replies-dont-fly/ |access-date=2023-07-29 |website=The Mail & Guardian |language=en-ZA}}</ref>
In July 2016, Stofile was diagnosed with cancer.<ref name=":7"/> He died on 15 August 2016 at his home in Alice.<ref name=":16">{{Cite news |date=17 August 2016 |title=Zuma declares official funeral for Stofile |work=Independent Online |url=https://www.iol.co.za/news/south-africa/zuma-declares-official-funeral-for-stofile-2058088 |access-date=29 July 2023}}</ref><ref name=":10" /><ref name=":8"/> President Zuma granted him a special official funeral.<ref name=":16"/>
== Honours == In 2000, the University of Port Elizabeth awarded him an honorary PhD.<ref name=":4"/><ref name=":2"/> In February 2016, it was announced that he would succeed Thembile Skweyiya as chancellor of his alma mater, the University of Fort Hare.<ref>{{Cite web |date=5 February 2016 |title=Rev Stofile is new Fort Hare chancellor |url=https://www.timeslive.co.za/news/south-africa/2016-02-05-rev-stofile-is-new-fort-hare-chancellor/ |access-date=2023-07-29 |website=Sunday Times |language=en-ZA}}</ref>
==References== {{Reflist}}
== External links == * [https://www.sahistory.org.za/people/reverend-makhenkesi-arnold-stofile Reverend Makhenkesi Arnold Stofile] at South African History Project * [https://www.suedafrika.org/en/embassy/world-cup-newsdetails/datum/2011/10/20/interview-with-he-reverend-makhenkesi-a-stofile-ambassador-of-the-republic-of-south-africa/print.html 2011 interview] {{s-start}} {{s-off}} {{s-bef|before=Raymond Mhlaba}} {{s-ttl|title=Premier of the Eastern Cape|years=4 February 1997 – 26 April 2004}} {{s-aft|after=Nosimo Balindlela}} {{s-bef|before=Ngconde Balfour}} {{s-ttl|title=Minister of Sport and Recreation|years=2004 – 1 November 2010}} {{s-aft|after = Fikile Mbalula}} {{s-end}}
{{SASportsMinisters}} {{EastCapePremiers}} {{Thabo Mbeki cabinet 2}} {{Kgalema Motlanthe cabinet 1}} {{Jacob Zuma cabinet 1}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Stofile, Arnold}} Category:1944 births Category:2016 deaths Category:People from Raymond Mhlaba Local Municipality Category:Xhosa people Category:African National Congress politicians Category:Ministers of sport, arts and culture of South Africa Category:Members of the National Assembly of South Africa 1994–1999 Category:Members of the National Assembly of South Africa 2009–2014 Category:Premiers of the Eastern Cape Category:Ambassadors of South Africa to Germany Category:University of Fort Hare alumni Category:Princeton University alumni Category:South African Presbyterians Category:South African anti-apartheid activists Category:South African sports executives and administrators