{{Short description|South African politician (born 1979)}} {{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}} {{Infobox officeholder | name = Buti Manamela | native_name = | native_name_lang = | honorific_suffix = MP | image = Buti Manamela Google event.jpg | alt = | caption = Manamela in July 2017 | office = Minister of Higher Education and Training | term_start = 21 July 2025 | president = Cyril Ramaphosa | predecessor = Nobuhle Nkabane | office1 = Deputy Minister of Higher Education, Science and Technology | term_start1 = 29 May 2019 | term_end1 = 21 July 2025 | president1 = Cyril Ramaphosa | minister1 = Blade Nzimande | predecessor1 = ''Himself'' <small>(for Higher Education)</small><br />Zanele kaMagwaza-Msibi <small>(for Science and Technology)</small> | successor1 = Nomusa Dube-Ncube | office2 = Deputy Minister of Higher Education and Training | term_start2 = 17 October 2017 | term_end2 = 7 May 2019 | successor2 = ''Himself'' <small>(for Higher Education, Science and Technology)</small> | predecessor2 = Mduduzi Manana | minister2 = Hlengiwe Mkhize<br />Naledi Pandor | president2 = Jacob Zuma<br />Cyril Ramaphosa | office3 = Deputy Minister in the Presidency | president3 = Jacob Zuma | minister3 = Jeff Radebe | predecessor3 = Obed Bapela | term_start3 = 26 May 2014 | term_end3 = 17 October 2017 | office4 = Member of the National Assembly | term_start4 = 6 May 2009 | office5 = National Secretary of the Young Communist League of South Africa | 1blankname5 = Chairperson | 1namedata5 = David Masondo<br />Yershen Pillay | predecessor5 = ''League re-established'' | successor5 = Mluleki Dlelanga | term_start5 = December 2003 | term_end5 = December 2014 | birth_date = {{birth date and age|1979|7|10|df=y}} | birth_place = Phagameng, Transvaal<br />South Africa | birth_name = Buti Kgwaridi Manamela | party = African National Congress | other_party = South African Communist Party | spouse = Nomvuyo Mhlakaza-Manamela | alma_mater = Witwatersrand University | honorific_prefix = The Honourable }}
'''Buti Kgwaridi Manamela''' (born 10 July 1979) is a South African politician who is currently serving as the Minister of Higher Education, Science and Technology since 21 July 2025 having served as Deputy Minister of Higher Education, Science and Technology since October 2017. He was formerly the Deputy Minister in the Presidency from 2014 to 2017, and he has represented the African National Congress (ANC) in the National Assembly since May 2009.
Born in Limpopo, Manamela rose to prominence as a youth activist, notably as national secretary of the Young Communist League of the South African Communist Party (SACP) from December 2003 to December 2014. In this capacity, he was a champion of Jacob Zuma's presidential ambitions. He was elected to the National Assembly in the 2009 general election, and Zuma appointed him as Deputy Minister in the Presidency after the 2014 general election. His next office was as Deputy Minister of Higher Education and Training, a portfolio that was restructured as Higher Education, Science and Technology in the cabinet of President Cyril Ramaphosa.
In December 2022, Manamela was elected to a five-year term as a member of the ANC National Executive Committee. He has been an elected member of the SACP Central Committee since July 2012.
== Early life and education == Manamela was born on 10 July 1979{{Citation needed|date=July 2023}} in Phagameng, a township in Modimolle in the former Northern Transvaal (present-day Limpopo Province).<ref name=":1">{{Cite web |title=Former Deputy Minister Buti Manamela: Profile |url=https://www.presidency.gov.za/node/28 |access-date=2023-07-30 |website=The Presidency}}</ref> He attended Phagameng High School,<ref name=":2">{{Cite web |title=Buti Kgwaridi Manamela |url=https://www.csir.co.za/buti-kgwaridi-manamela |access-date=2023-07-31 |website=CSIR}}</ref> where he was president of the student representative council.<ref name=":1" /> In addition, he joined the Congress of South African Students (COSAS) and African National Congress (ANC) Youth League as a teenager in 1993;<ref name=":1" /> he was a branch secretary for the local ANC Youth League from 1994 to 1996 and a branch coordinator for COSAS in 1995.<ref name=":3">{{Cite web |title=Buti Manamela, Mr |url=https://www.gov.za/about-government/contact-directory/buti-manamela-mr |access-date=2023-07-30 |website=South African Government}}</ref>
After matriculating in 1997, Manamela studied towards an electronic engineering diploma at Mamelodi College (now Tshwane North College) in Pretoria.<ref name=":4">{{Cite web |date=6 August 2018 |title=Manamela wants to change perception that TVET colleges are for stupid people |url=https://www.sowetanlive.co.za/news/south-africa/2018-08-06-manamela-wants-to-change-perception-that-tvet-colleges-are-for-stupid-people/ |access-date=2023-07-30 |website=Sowetan |language=en-ZA}}</ref> While there, he was president of the student representative council from 1998 to 1999.<ref name=":1" /> He was also active in the South African Students Congress (SASCO); he served as SASCO provincial chairperson and, in 2000, as national deputy president.<ref name=":1" /> Leaving college in 2001, Manamela was an organiser for the South African Commercial, Catering and Allied Workers' Union from 2001 to 2003.<ref name=":3" /> Later, in 2017, he completed a Master's degree in public policy from the University of the Witwatersrand.<ref name=":2" />
== Young Communist League == In December 2003, the South African Communist Party (SACP) relaunched its Young Communist League (YCL) for the post-apartheid era, and Manamela was elected as its inaugural national secretary.<ref name=":1" /> He held the post for over a decade, until the end of 2014. In the early years of his leadership, the YCL was a vocal supporter of Jacob Zuma, who became the primary political rival of President Thabo Mbeki. After Mbeki sacked Zuma as Deputy President in June 2005, Manamela, on behalf of the YCL, said that the decision infringed upon Zuma's constitutional rights.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2005-06-14 |title=Zuma 'crucified' by media |url=https://mg.co.za/article/2005-06-14-zuma-crucified-by-media/ |access-date=2023-07-30 |website=The Mail & Guardian |language=en-ZA}}</ref> He had formerly defended Zuma against corruption allegations,<ref>{{Cite web |date=2 June 2005 |title=Young Communists backing Zuma |url=https://www.news24.com/news24/young-communists-backing-zuma-20050602 |access-date=2023-07-31 |website=News24 |language=en-US}}</ref> and the YCL later supported Zuma during his rape trial.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2006-05-12 |title=The Presidency circa 2009? |url=https://mg.co.za/article/2006-05-12-the-presidency-circa-2009/ |access-date=2023-07-30 |website=The Mail & Guardian |language=en-ZA}}</ref>
In June 2008, the YCL condemned the "imperialist inclination" of British authorities after Manamela was detained at Heathrow Airport for several hours, according to the YCL under "barbaric interrogation... on suspicion that he is a terrorist".<ref name=":5">{{Cite web |date=2008-06-06 |title=UK: YCL official's detention a 'routine check' |url=https://mg.co.za/article/2008-06-06-uk-ycl-officials-detention-a-routine-check/ |access-date=2023-07-30 |website=The Mail & Guardian |language=en-ZA}}</ref> Manamela was on a trip to London to meet with the British Young Communist League and attend a lecture at the School of Oriental and African Studies, and he said that he was held by immigration officers for about six hours.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2008-06-15 |title=Horror at an airport |url=https://mg.co.za/article/2008-06-15-horror-at-an-airport/ |access-date=2023-07-30 |website=The Mail & Guardian |language=en-ZA}}</ref> The British High Commission said that he was subject to "routine immigration checks".<ref name=":5" />
== National Assembly: 2009–2014 == In the 2009 general election, Manamela was elected to represent the ANC in the National Assembly. From 2011 he was the ANC's whip in the Portfolio Committee on Labour, and he was also the volunteer-in-chief ahead of Mandela Day.<ref name=":1" /><ref name=":6">{{Cite web |date=2010-06-11 |title=200 Young South Africans: Politics & Government |url=https://mg.co.za/article/2010-06-11-200-young-south-africa-politics/ |access-date=2023-07-30 |website=The Mail & Guardian |language=en-ZA}}</ref> During this period, he was one of the ''Mail & Guardian''<nowiki/>'s 200 Young South Africans in 2009 and 2010.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2009-06-11 |title=300 Young South Africans: Politics |url=https://mg.co.za/article/2009-06-11-300-young-south-africans-politics/ |access-date=2023-07-30 |website=The Mail & Guardian |language=en-ZA}}</ref><ref name=":6" />
Also during his first term in the National Assembly, Manamela was elected to a third term as YCL secretary at a hotly contested national congress in Mafikeng.<ref>{{Cite web |date=9 December 2010 |title=Buti's good in the eyes of his beholders |url=https://www.news24.com/news24/butis-good-in-the-eyes-of-his-beholders-20150429 |access-date=2023-07-30 |website=News24 |language=en-US}}</ref> His outgoing deputy, Khaye Nkwanyane, was slated to challenge his incumbency, but Manamela's camp reportedly reached a deal with Nkwanyane that left him uncontested.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2010-12-11 |title=Manamela re-elected at violent YCL congress |url=https://mg.co.za/article/2010-12-11-manamela-reelected-at-violent-ycl-congress/ |access-date=2023-07-30 |website=The Mail & Guardian |language=en-ZA}}</ref> One of the issues of contestation was Manamela's close relationship with SACP general secretary Blade Nzimande:<ref>{{Cite web |date=2010-11-26 |title=Young communists brace for a fight |url=https://mg.co.za/article/2010-11-26-young-communists-brace-for-a-fight/ |access-date=2023-07-30 |website=The Mail & Guardian |language=en-ZA}}</ref> by that time, Nzimande was viewed as Manamela's political "mentor",<ref>{{Cite web |date=2011-03-04 |title=Purge of league's lumpen |url=https://mg.co.za/article/2011-03-04-purge-of-leagues-lumpen/ |access-date=2023-07-30 |website=The Mail & Guardian |language=en-ZA}}</ref> and critics even characterised Manamela as his "puppet", though Manamela denied this.<ref name=":7">{{Cite web |date=2014-12-04 |title=Buti Manamela to quit communist post |url=https://mg.co.za/article/2014-12-04-buti-manamela-to-quit-communist-post/ |access-date=2023-07-30 |website=The Mail & Guardian |language=en-ZA}}</ref> Manamela was directly elected onto the SACP's Central Committee in 2012,<ref name=":8">{{Cite web |title=Previous Central Committee Members |url=https://sacp.org.za/content/previous-central-committee-members |access-date=2023-07-30 |website=South African Communist Party (SACP)}}</ref> though he had long been an ex officio member of the committee in his YCL capacity.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |title=Buti Manamela |url=http://www.pa.org.za/person/kgwaridi-buti-manamela/ |access-date=2023-07-30 |website=People's Assembly |language=en}}</ref> In 2014, he was additionally elected to the Provincial Executive Committee on the ANC's Limpopo branch.<ref name=":1" />
== Deputy Minister in the Presidency: 2014–2017 == In the May 2014 general election, Manamela was re-elected to the National Assembly, ranked 28th on the ANC's national party list.<ref name=":0" /> After the election, Zuma, now President of South Africa, appointed Manamela as Deputy Minister in the Presidency under his second-term cabinet. Deputising Minister Jeff Radebe, he was responsible for a newly enlarged portfolio, which included the National Planning Commission and youth development functions as well as the Department of Planning, Monitoring and Evaluation.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2014-05-25 |title=Zuma's Cabinet: Nene for Gordhan, Nathi for Nathi |url=https://mg.co.za/article/2014-05-25-chosen-ones-zuma-bares-his-cabinet/ |access-date=2023-07-30 |website=The Mail & Guardian |language=en-ZA}}</ref>
Ahead of the YCL's fourth national congress in December 2014, Manamela announced that he would not seek election to another term as general secretary but would instead step down to allow new leaders to emerge.<ref name=":7" /> However, he served the rest of his term as a member of the SACP Central Committee and was re-elected to that body at the party's 14th national congress in July 2017.<ref name=":8" /> His re-election followed reports that Zuma's opponents were lobbying for Manamela and other Zuma allies to be ousted from the Central Committee;<ref>{{Cite web |date=2017-07-12 |title=Solly Mapaila accepts nomination as SACP first deputy general secretary |url=https://mg.co.za/article/2017-07-12-solly-mapaila-wont-stand-for-sacp-re-election/ |access-date=2023-07-30 |website=The Mail & Guardian |language=en-ZA}}</ref> according to sources of the ''Mail & Guardian'', Manamela had fallen out with Nzimande over issues including Manamela's continued support for Zuma.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2017-06-09 |title=SACP rounds on its leaders who back Zuma |url=https://mg.co.za/article/2017-06-09-00-sacp-rounds-on-its-leaders-who-back-zuma/ |access-date=2023-07-30 |website=The Mail & Guardian |language=en-ZA}}</ref>
== Minister of Higher Education == On 17 October 2017, Zuma announced a cabinet reshuffle in which Manamela was appointed as Deputy Minister of Higher Education and Training, serving under Hlengiwe Mkhize.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2017-10-17 |title=Zuma reshuffles his Cabinet |url=https://mg.co.za/article/2017-10-17-zuma-reshuffles-his-cabinet/ |access-date=2023-07-30 |website=The Mail & Guardian |language=en-ZA}}</ref> He remained in that portfolio after Cyril Ramaphosa replaced Zuma in the presidency. Under Ramaphosa's second cabinet, appointed after the 2019 general election, the ministry was enlarged as the Ministry of Higher Education, Science and Technology, and Nzimande was appointed as the minister above Manamela.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Nicolson |first=Greg |date=2019-05-29 |title=Ramaphosa cuts Cabinet from 36 to 28 ministers, half of whom are women |url=https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2019-05-29-ramaphosa-cuts-cabinet-from-36-to-28-ministers-half-of-whom-are-women/ |access-date=2023-07-30 |website=Daily Maverick |language=en}}</ref>
In addition, at the ANC's 55th National Conference in December 2022, Manamela was elected to a five-year term as a member of the ANC National Executive Committee; he was ranked 22nd of the committee's 80 members, receiving 1,503 votes across roughly 4,000 ballots.<ref>{{Cite web |date=22 December 2022 |title=Full list: ANC NEC members |url=https://www.enca.com/news/full-list-anc-nec-members |access-date=2023-07-30 |website=eNCA |language=en}}</ref> He was also re-elected to the SACP Central Committee in 2022 and was appointed as the party's assistant secretary for internal media and publications.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Current Central Committee |url=https://sacp.org.za/content/current-central-committee |access-date=2023-07-30 |website=South African Communist Party (SACP)}}</ref> Buti Manamela has been appointed as Minister of higher education after Nobuhle Nkabane's resignation.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Masilela |first=Sinenhlanhla |date=2025-07-21 |title=Buti Manamela appointed as Higher Education Minister after Nkabane's resignation |url=https://iol.co.za/news/politics/2025-07-21-buti-manamela-appointed-as-higher-education-minister-after-nkabanes-resignation/ |access-date=2025-07-21 |website=IOL |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web | title=New Higher Education Minister Buti Manamela, deputy to be sworn in - SABC News - Breaking news, special reports, world, business, sport coverage of all South African current events. Africa's news leader. | url=https://www.sabcnews.com/sabcnews/new-higher-education-minister-buti-manamela-deputy-to-be-sworn-in/ | access-date=2025-08-06 | website=www.sabcnews.com}}</ref>
== Personal life == He is married to politician Vuyo Mhlakaza, with whom he has two children.<ref name=":4" /> He ran the Comrades Marathon in 2018.<ref name=":4" />
==References== {{Reflist}}
==External links== *{{People's Assembly (South Africa)|kgwaridi-buti-manamela|Mr Buti Manamela}} *[https://www.parliament.gov.za/person-details/172 Mr Kgwaridi Buti Manamela] at Parliament of South Africa {{G20-Education}} {{Current MPs of South Africa}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Manamela, Buti}} Category:1979 births Category:Living people Category:People from Modimolle Local Municipality Category:South African Communist Party politicians Category:African National Congress politicians Category:Members of the National Assembly of South Africa 2024–2029 Category:University of the Witwatersrand alumni Category:Members of the National Assembly of South Africa 2019–2024 Category:Members of the National Assembly of South Africa 2009–2014 Category:Members of the National Assembly of South Africa 2014–2019 Category:Science ministers of South Africa