Ohm Collins Chabane

Ohm Collins Chabane was born on the 15th of April 1960 at Xikundu Village, Limpopo Province. He joined the ANC underground activities at an early age of Seventeen (17) and went to exile in May 1980. In 1984 he was arrested and served a term in Robben Island. On his release in 1990, he continued to serve the ANC in the then Northern Transvaal as the Provincial Secretary until 1998. He was also instrumental in the re-establishment of the ANC structures in the Province. As the Provincial Secretary he also served in the following provincial sub-committees:

• Provincial Working Committee
• Chair of the Provincial Disciplinary Committee
• Chair of the Political Committee
• Member of the Provincial Constitutional Committee
• Provincial ETC
• Member of the Political Education

At the level of Limpopo Legislature, he is serving as a member of the Rules Committee, the Legislature Board and the Internal Arrangement Committee.

After the 1994 elections, he was elected to serve as an MP in the National Assembly where he participated in the following committees:

• Constitutional and Management Committees: Constitutional Assembly
• Joint Committee on Defence and Intelligence
• Standing Committee: Finance, Minerals and Energy Affairs

In 1997 he was re-deployed back to Limpopo Province and was appointed MEC in Premier Ngoako Ramatlhodi’s Office. In 1998 he was appointed MEC for the department of Public Works and leader of government business in the Legislature. One of the highlight of his tenure in Public Works was the establishment of the Road Agency, which was the first institution of its kind to be established in South Africa. Through this institution, the department managed to fast track the upgrading of roads in the province. He also established “Gungu Lashu”, a labour intensive road construction programme – a nucleus of the current EPWP programme. The department went on to win the following awards under his leadership: Platinum, Silver and Gold for Best Service Awards as well as won the award for the EPWP programme.

In 2005 he was appointed as MEC for Economic Development, Environment & Tourism. This is the Department which is charged with the responsibility of driving the Provincial economy. During his tenure in the department he embarked on an international awareness programme on economic opportunities in trade and investment in the tourism, mining agribusiness sector with special emphasises on Doing Business with SADC countries and Africa broadly as well as with the international business communities. A number of Service level agreements were signed with CPI in Mozambique, SIPA in Swaziland, Bedia in Botswana, SOFI in Switzerland, SANC for the South African Netherlands Chamber of Business, JETRO in Japan and with IJM in Malaysia (a capacitation programme for graduates). A tourism agreement co-operation agreement was signed with Mozambique, Zimbabwe, Botswana and Zambia. Negotiations to sign Service Level Agreements with Lesotho, Namibia and Zimbabwe are still underway.

Importantly, through his assistance, a R15million water purification project has been realized. This project, 3D Water Purification Project, a Joint venture (JV) between a Limpopo based company and a Dutch Company, is viewed as a pilot project which the Limpopo Provincial government would like to duplicate in other municipalities upon its completion.

In December 2007, the ANC held its 52nd National Congress in Polokwane, Limpopo Province where he was re-elected into the NEC. He serves in the following ANC National Executive sub-committees:

• National Working Committee
• Constitutional Affairs Sub-Committee (Chairperson)
• NEC Deployee to Gauteng (Convenor)
• Transitional Task Team (Convenor)
• National Deployment Committee
• Economic Transformation Sub-Committee
• Social Transformation Sub-Committee
• International Relations Sub-Committee
• National Disciplinary Sub-Committee

Ohm Collins Chabane is a former Chancellor of Mbulaheni Ramaano Training College in the Vhembe District. He holds a Diploma in Leadership and Management from the Turfloop Graduate School of Leadership under the University of the Limpopo and a Diploma in Management from Esomi in Arusha, Tanzania.

On 11 April 2009 he was sworn in as Minister in The Presidency in charge of Performance Management and Monitoring and Administration.

On 15 March 2015, Ohm Collins Chabane passed away.