Obed Bapela

Obed Bapela
Deputy Minister of Public Enterprises
In office
6 March 2023 – 17 June 2024
PresidentCyril Ramaphosa
MinisterPravin Gordhan
Preceded byPhumulo Masualle
Member of the National Assembly
In office
2002 – 28 May 2024
Deputy Minister of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs
In office
26 May 2014 – 6 March 2023
PresidentJacob Zuma
Cyril Ramaphosa
MinisterPravin Gordhan
Des van Rooyen
Zweli Mkhize
Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma
Succeeded byZolile Burns-Ncamashe
Deputy Minister in the Presidency for Performance Monitoring and Evaluation
In office
24 October 2011 – 24 April 2014
PresidentJacob Zuma
MinisterCollins Chabane
Preceded byDina Pule
Succeeded byButi Manamela
Deputy Minister of Communications
In office
1 November 2010 – 24 October 2011
PresidentJacob Zuma
MinisterRoy Padayachie
Preceded byDina Pule
Succeeded byStella Ndabeni
Personal details
Born
Kopeng Obed Bapela

(1958-02-28) 28 February 1958 (age 66)
Alexandra, Transvaal
Union of South Africa
Political partyAfrican National Congress
Spouse
(died 2018)

Kopeng Obed Bapela (born 28 February 1958) is a South African politician who is currently serving as the Deputy Minister of Public Enterprises since 6 March 2023. Before that, he was Deputy Minister of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs from 2014 to 2023. A member of the African National Congress (ANC), he has been a member of the National Assembly since 2002 and a deputy minister since 2010.

Bapela rose to prominence through the anti-apartheid movement in Alexandra, and he served in the Gauteng Provincial Legislature from 1994 to 1999. After joining Parliament in 2002, he rose to become Chairperson of the National Assembly before President Jacob Zuma appointed him as Deputy Minister of Communications from 2010 to 2011. After that he served as Deputy Minister in the Presidency from 2011 to 2014 and then as Deputy Minister of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs from 2014 until 2023, when President Cyril Ramaphosa appointed him to his current position.

A longstanding member of the ANC, Bapela was formerly Provincial Secretary of the party's Gauteng branch. He has been a member of the ANC National Executive Committee since 2012 and has been particularly active in foreign affairs, including as the party's head of international relations between 2013 and 2015.