Former North West Premier owns at least 24 properties across South Africa
Former North West Premier Supra Mahumapelo owns at least 24 properties across South Africa. These include 18 residential, two business, and six vacant or undeveloped pieces of land.
These were declared by Mahumapelo, who is now a Member of Parliament (MP), to Parliament for its recently published Register of Members’ Interests report for June 2025.
Currently the Chairperson of Parliament’s Portfolio Committee on International Relations and Cooperation, Mahumapelo served as Premier of the North West Province from May 2014 until his resignation in May 2018.
Before this, he was Speaker of the North West Provincial legislature.
In early 2018, the North West province was gripped by widespread unrest, with violent service delivery protests erupting across the region.
By late April, President Cyril Ramaphosa’s cabinet placed the province’s health and finance departments under national control.
The following month, this intervention was expanded to include the entire North West provincial administration, the first time such a comprehensive step had been taken in South Africa’s democratic history.
Ramaphosa also established an inter-ministerial task team. Its investigation uncovered widespread dysfunction across the provincial and local governments.
It highlighted issues such as mismanagement, corruption, a lack of skills, poor governance, and irregularities in procurement processes.
On 23 May, Mahumapelo announced that he would “embark on early retirement” and step down as Premier. On 22 June, Mahumapelo also resigned from his seat in the provincial legislature.
After some time away from the public eye, the African National Congress (ANC) redeployed him as an MP following the 2019 elections, where he has served ever since.
He spent some time as the chairperson of the tourism committee and then international relations.
Looking at the declared properties, as of June 2025, Mahumapelo owns:
| Category | Location | Description | Size |
|---|---|---|---|
| Residential | Mahikeng | Residential Property | 850 m² |
| Mahikeng | Residential Property | 902 m² | |
| Mahikeng | Residential Property | 901 m² | |
| Mahikeng | Residential Property | 903 m² | |
| Mahikeng | Residential Property | 454 m² | |
| Mahikeng | Residential Property | 985 m² | |
| Mahikeng | Residential Property | 920 m² | |
| Mmabatho (Mahikeng) | Residential Property | 454 m² | |
| Ramatlabama Village | Residential Property | 12 hectares | |
| Potchefstroom | Residential Property | 180 m² | |
| Potchefstroom | Residential Flat | 180 m² | |
| Rustenburg | Residential Property | 1380 m² | |
| Rustenburg | Residential Property | 1380 m² | |
| Atamelang Township | Residential Property | 1200 m² | |
| Atamelang Township (Tswaing) | Residential Property | 1200 m² | |
| Hartebeestpoort Dam | Residential Property | 1250 m² | |
| Moruleng Village | Residential Property | 1 hectare | |
| Delareyville | Residential Property | 89 hectares | |
| Business | Mahikeng (Vryburg Road) | Business Stand | 3000 m² |
| Tontonyane Village (Mahikeng) | Tourism Lodge | 1.5 hectares | |
| Vacant / Undeveloped | Ramatlabama | Vacant Plot | 89 hectares |
| Mahikeng | Empty Stand | 1800 m² | |
| Moruleng | Vacant Land | 2800 m² | |
| Hartebeestpoortdam | Vacant Land | 1300 m² |
Something is not adding up, says ActionSA
The fact that a public official like a provincial Premier could amass ownership of 24 properties during or shortly after their term in office has raised several red flags among parties.
As determined by the Remuneration of Public Office Bearers Act, the annual salary for a premier was R1,982,731 in 2014, rising to R2,173,470 in his last year in office.
ActionSA MP Alan Beesley told Newsday that the “scale of former Premier Mahumapelo’s declared land and property holdings is deeply concerning.”
“This is especially alarming given the persistent corruption and widespread service delivery failures that have plagued the North West Province for many years.”
Beesley said that given South Africa’s “well‑documented history of senior political figures abusing public office for personal enrichment, the accumulation of significant wealth by any former or current office bearer rightly raises serious concerns and warrants public scrutiny.”
No stranger to controversy
Mahumapelo’s tenure as North West Premier (2014–2018) was fraught with controversy, including multiple allegations of corruption and financial mismanagement, though he has not been criminally convicted.
A close ally of former president Jacob Zuma, Mahumapelo publicly defended the Gupta family and dismissed state capture claims.
He also led the erection of a R1.8 million Zuma monument in Groot Marico, unveiled in 2017 to mark Zuma’s apartheid-era arrest. The site, once part of the Liberation Heritage Route, is now reportedly neglected.
The Hawks raided Mahumapelo’s office after allegations that IT firm Nepo Data Dynamics received over R215 million, allegedly through inflated daily payments. Staff reportedly underwent polygraph tests over information leaks.
That same year, a R30 million contract was allegedly awarded without due process to Gupta-linked Mediosa, leading to the suspension of the provincial health head.
Several North West municipalities also invested more than R300 million in the failed VBS Mutual Bank, incurring heavy losses.
The Auditor General reported an accumulated irregular expenditure of R15.3 billion in the province by early 2017.
A News24 probe reported that a company linked to a Mahumapelo associate received R5.5 million from Bosasa between 2018 and 2019, with no clear record of services rendered.
State-owned Denel controversially granted Mahumapelo’s son a R1 million pilot bursary, later cancelled due to regulatory violations.
The DA accused Mahumapelo of awarding a R32 million call centre contract to a close corporation with a single member allegedly linked to him. The centre reportedly handles only 32 calls per month.
The DA laid charges over a R400 million South African Express deal involving Mahumapelo, and former ministers Lynne Brown and Dipuo Peters, citing bribery claims at the Zondo Commission.
The EFF also filed a no-confidence motion, citing corruption in projects allegedly approved without procurement processes.
Mahumapelo has denied wrongdoing, claiming political persecution. He has since filed a defamation suit against the Revolutionary Council.
He and his spokespeople did not respond to Newsday’s requests for comment.
Bessley said that ActionSA supports the introduction of independent verification of all declarations of interest by public representatives.
“At present, these disclosures are not subject to any verification, which allows dishonesty and the concealment of ill‑gotten wealth. This loophole must be closed to uphold accountability.”
His party calls for all prominent political figures to be subject to regular, independent lifestyle audits.
“Crucially, the findings of these audits must be made public to ensure transparency and restore public trust.”
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Have these people no shame! A shocking state of affairs when millions of people in this country have no hope of owning a home and cannot put food on the table! So scary that they continue getting away with their criminal behavior.