PROFILE OF CLLR PULE JOSIAH SHAYI, THE EXECUTIVE MAYOR OF MOPANI DISTRICT MUNICIPALITY
PERSONAL LIFE
Cllr Pule Shayi was born in the village of Mashishimale on 30 June 1972 where he grew up and attended school.
CURRENT POSITIONS
He was re-elected as the Executive Mayor of Mopani District Municipality on the 25th of November 2021. He was first elected as the Executive Mayor of Mopani District Municipality on 7 June 2019, completing the term of the fourth council.
He is the chairperson of the African National Congress in the Norman Mashabane Region (Formerly known as Mopani Region).
He sits in the Provincial Executive Committee of the African National Congress on an ex-officio status.
He is also a member of the National Executive Committee of South African Local Government Association (SALGA) where he chairs the National Working Group on Municipal Capability and Institutional Resilience.
He serves in the Provincial Executive Committee of the South African Communist Party (SACP)
ACADEMIC BACKGROUND
After matriculating, Cllr. Pule Shayi proceeded to pursue studies in institutions of higher learning.
He received a Master of Business Administration (MBA) in 2022.
He holds an Honours Degree (Bachelor of Arts in Media Studies) from UNISA.
He also holds a National Diploma in Public Relations and a Senior Primary Teachers Diploma.
He has a certificate in Local Government Law and Municipal Administration from the University of Pretoria
He is currently pursuing studies in LLB.
PARTICIPATION IN POLITICS, TRADE UNION MOVEMENTS AND COMMUNITY STRUCTURES
Cllr Pule Shayi has been active in the student, youth politics as well as the broader mass democratic movement.He has a long history of participation in the mass democratic movement.
He served Sasco as the Political and Education Officer while studying at the Mapulaneng College of Education in 1994.
He was elected branch chairperson of the ANCYL, where he led from 1997-2001.
In 2002, he was elected the Deputy Secretary of SAYC in the District where he served until 2004.
He was also elected the Secretary of the ANCYL in the Phalaborwa Sub-region, and later as the Chairperson between 2004- 2007.
Between 2004 – 2008, he acted as the Regional Secretary and later elected as the Regional Secretary of the ANCYL.
He led the Phalaborwa Branch of SADTU as Deputy Secretary between 2007-2008.
He was also elected Chairperson of SAMWU Mopani Local from 2008 – 2009, while he was also elected as Branch Secretary (Full-time Shopsteward) for SAMWU Far North Branch.
He has held positions in the Alliance Structures as well. In 1996, he was elected Branch Secretary of SANCO (Mashishimale) where he served until 1998.He was later elected as Chairperson of the same structure.
He was elected the Branch Secretary of Modume Branch of the SACP from 2011-2013. In 2012, he was elected the District Deputy Secretary of the SACP where he served until recently (2022) when he was elected to the PEC.
He has been a member of the ANC’s Regional Executive Committee and the Regional Working Committee (RWC) from 2013 to date, where he also served as the Regional Spokesperson (Head of communications sub-committee).
He was elected as the Regional Chairperson of the ANC in the Norman Mashabane Region in 2017.
He was re-elected as the Regional Chairperson of the ANC in the Norman Region Region in June 2021.
POSITIONS IN GOVERNMENT
Cllr Pule Shayi has served in various positions at both national and local government:
His first breakthrough in the formal employment was through the Department of Education.
He was employed as CSI Educator at Modume Primary School from 1995 – 2000, while he also worked as ABET Supervisor for Modume Adult Centre
He was appointed as CSI Educator at Baranuka High School from 2000 – 2008, where he also served as HOD from 2007 to 2008.
He was then appointed as a Community Liaison Officer at Mopani District Municipality.
He joined the Department of Public Service and Administration (DPSA) as Executive Assistant to the Minister (2009 – 2010)
In 2010, he was appointed Director in the Private Office of the Minister of Public Service and Administration.
From 2011 until 2012 he worked as the Head of Administration (Ministry) Department of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs (COGTA).
He was appointed as Senior Manager responsible for project management at Municipal Infrastructure Support Agency (MISA) from 2012 – 2013.
In August 2016, he was elected as the Mayor of Ba-Phalaborwa where he served until June 2019.
He was elected as the Executive Mayor of Mopani District Municipality in June 2019.
He served as the 1st Deputy Chairperson of Salga in Limpopo.
In 2019, he was elected as the Chairperson of Salga in the province.
He was re-elected as the Executive Mayor of Mopani District Municipality in November 2021.
In March 2022, he was elected to serve in Salga’s National Executive Committee.
OTHER ACTIVITIES
He visited China in 2015 as part of the Cadre Development Programme at Party School with the Community Party of China
He went to the Democratic Republic of Congo in 2010 on an Anti-Corruption Programme led by the DPSA.
He has been to Dubai and India in 2018 on an International Business Practice led by Regenesys Business School.
