Majodina was born on 24 December 1968 in Sterkspruit, Cape Province. She studied Bachelors of Education at the National University of Lesotho (NUL) obtaining her degree in 1996 and enrolled for a Honours degree which she completed in 1998.[2]
In the April 2004 provincial election, Majodina was elected to an ANC seat in the Eastern Cape Provincial Legislature.[4] After her swearing-in she was elected as chairperson of the legislature's Portfolio Committee on Roads and Public Works.[2] She continued her extra-parliamentary work with the ANC, and in December 2006 she was elected to a three-year term as Deputy Provincial Secretary of the Eastern Cape ANC.[5]
Phumulo Masualle was elected Premier after the May 2014 election. He appointed Majodina as MEC for Sport, Recreation, Arts and Culture.[8] While she was in that office, she was investigated by the Public Protector, Thuli Madonsela, on charges of misappropriating public funds during an official visit to New York in September 2012. Madonsela's report, completed in April 2015, found that Majodina had accepted an inappropriately large spending allowance during the visit and recommended that Masualle should take disciplinary steps against Majodina.[9] She later paid back the funds.[10]
In December 2017 Majodina attended the ANC's 54th National Conference, where she was elected to the party's National Executive Committee. By number of votes received, she was ranked 74th of the committee's 80 ordinary members.[11]
In May 2018, Masualle appointed her MEC for Public Works.[12]
National Assembly: 2019–present
Majodina during a parliamentary debate in November 2019
After the May 2019 elections, Majodina was elected to return to Parliament as a Member of the National Assembly. The National Executive Committee of the African National Congress named her the party's chief whip in the National Assembly, and she assumed the position upon her inauguration. She was the second woman to hold the post, with Doris Dlakude as her deputy.[13][14][15] She was the first woman to hold the office,[16] and she warned the ANC caucus to "move faster and better because we don't have time to play around".[17]
In June 2023, Public Protector at the time, Busisiwe Mkhwebane, laid a complaint against three ANC MPs, Majodina, Richard Dyantyi and Tina Joemat-Pettersson with Parliament's Joint Committee on Ethics and Members' Interests. This came after Mkhwebane's husband alleged that Joemat-Pettersson approached him for a R600 000 bribe for the three to influence the outcome of the Section 194 Enquiry into the fitness of Mkhwebane to hold office; he also laid a complaint with the police.[18] The Committee cleared Dyantyi and Majodina, saying the claim was unfounded.[19]
Awards and honours
Majodina was awarded an Honorary Doctorate in community development from the Arlington University of Australia in 2010. The next year, the Methodist Church of Southern Africa gave her their Reverend Baartman Award. In 2015, Reverend Jesse Jackson awarded her with a Global Humanitarian Award.[2]
Personal life
Majodina has nine children, of which seven are adopted and two are biological. She is estranged from her husband. Majodina is a Christian.[2]
^Cele, S’thembile (27 May 2019). "New chief whip Pemmy Majodina plans to sebenza all the way". City Press. Retrieved 27 June 2020. The chief whip will be making a comeback to Parliament, having served in the National Council of Provinces from 1999 to 2004 before making her way to the Eastern Cape government, where she was deployed in five different departments.
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