Staff reporter
Ficksburg — Fresh questions have emerged over the citizenship status of Nthateng Maoke, the former Executive Mayor of Setsoto Local Municipality, following her re-employment in government despite earlier Department of Home Affairs records describing her as an “illegal immigrant.”
Maoke served as the ANC’s executive mayor from 2016 until her abrupt resignation in December 2019, after Home Affairs alleged that she had fraudulently obtained South African citizenship.
At the time, the department formally instructed the municipal council to terminate her employment in terms of section 36 of the Immigration Act 13 of 2002, warning that failure to do so would result in legal action.
Despite this, Maoke was appointed in 2025 as an Intervention Officer at the Department of Human Settlements on a five-year contract, effective from 16 May.
The appointment came under renewed scrutiny after James Mokoena, a Member of the Provincial Legislature for the Democratic Alliance, submitted written questions to Teboho Mokoena, MEC for COGTA and Human Settlements, seeking clarity on Maoke’s citizenship status and qualifications.
In his reply tabled in the Provincial Legislature, the MEC stated that Maoke “has been found to be a South African citizen,” adding that she completed her schooling in Ficksburg and holds a matric certificate as well as an N5 qualification.
He further indicated that she met the requirements for her current position.
However, multiple sources from Maputswe in Lesotho, Home Affairs Pretoria, and the ANC Youth League have disputed this account, providing background information they say raises serious doubts about her residency history and immigration status.
According to a Maputswe-based source, Maoke attended St Luke Primary School in Maputsoe, Lesotho.
“She was later transferred to Mpumalanga before moving to Ficksburg, where she attended Ficksburg High School, reportedly failing twice.”
The source further claims that she later enrolled at Boitumelo Secondary School, while travelling daily between Lesotho and South Africa via the Maputswe Border Post.
Information provided by sources within the ANC Youth League indicates that after completing matric, Maoke became politically active within the organisation and later served in its Gender Unit.
Meanwhile, sources at the Department of Home Affairs in Pretoria allege that Maoke’s South African identity document should have been blocked and that she should have been declared an undesirable person under immigration legislation.
These sources further allege that Maoke’s mother, Manthateng Maoke, obtained South African identification documents fraudulently, while her father allegedly acquired documentation after the ANC facilitated citizenship for mineworkers.
However, Home Affairs family records reportedly classify her father under code 180, indicating non-citizen status.
It is further alleged that Maoke’s identity number : 8704………., was blocked in 2018 following a submission to central law enforcement involving her family, dated 21 September 2021.
The ID was allegedly unblocked in 2023 due to a pending court application, following a further inspectorate submission compiled by an official identified as Elsie, instructing investigators to reverse the block.
Home Affairs Pretoria sources say the family file, including the father’s non-citizen classification, remains on record and forms part of an appeal process and she acquired her ID before her late mother.
“Ms Nthateng acquired her ID before her mother who is now late.”
Teboho Mokoena, MEC for Human Settlements and COGTA did not respond to questions.
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