Nelson Ramodike
Mogoboya Nelson Ramodike was a South African politician who served as Chief Minister of Lebowa, an apartheid-era bantustan, from 21 October 1987 to 26 April 1994. He subsequently represented the United Democratic Movement in the National Assembly from 1999 to 2003.
Background
Ramodike is a former traffic police officer turned politician who began his political activism with Lebowa People's Party in the 1980s. He became chief minister after the death of then chief minister of the Lebowa government Cedric Phatudi.Political affiliation
Ramodike is referred to as a conformist for disbanding his political party, the Lebowa People's Party, to form the United People's Front in order to pave the way for participation in the Convention for a Democratic South Africa. He often addressed traditional leadership about political developments in the Lebowa Bantustans. For example, Ramodike addressed the Hananwa traditional authority at a rally. Nelson Ramodike was a member of the United Democratic Front, and later joined the African National Congress for a place in the CODESA negotiations before the 1994 South African general election.After the 1994 elections, Ramodike joined the United Democratic Movement ; he won election to a UDM seat in the National Assembly in the 1999 general election, representing the Limpopo constituency. He also served as spokesperson for the UDM. However, he resigned from the UDM and therefore from Parliament in early 2003 in order to establish his own political party, the Alliance for Democracy and Prosperity. He quit politics due to illness in May 2007.