Between 1996 and 1998, he sat in the
Free State Executive Council as
Member of the Executive Council (MEC) for Education. Three months later, in another cabinet reshuffle in October, Marshoff moved him to the Economic Development, Tourism and Environmental Affairs portfolio of the Executive Council. In February 2009, he additionally became acting MEC for Education, after the incumbent,
Casca Mokitlane, resigned in order to defect from the ANC to the
Congress of the People.
Magashule premiership: 2009–2018 Dismissal Pursuant to the
general election in May 2009, Ace Magashule succeeded Marshoff as Premier of the Free State. Dukwana was retained as MEC for Economic Development, Tourism and Environmental Affairs in Magashule's new Executive Council. At this time, Dukwana was viewed as a close political ally of Magashule and as Magashule's possible successor. However, their relationship had deteriorated by 2012: in February of that year, Magashule fired Dukwana from the Executive Council. The opposition
Democratic Alliance alleged that Magashule had made the move because he viewed Dukwana as a political threat, rather than because of his performance as an MEC.
Bid for ANC chair Dukwana's removal from the Executive Council coincided with his final months in his party office as ANC Provincial Treasurer. Instead of seeking re-election to that office, he launched a campaign to oust Magashule from the party chairmanship. By April 2012, the
Mail & Guardian identified him as the centre of a provincial ANC
faction known as the "
Regime Change Group", which lobbied for Dukwana's election as ANC Provincial Chairperson. Other members of the group reportedly included (at least initially)
Sibongile Besani, who was the outgoing ANC
Provincial Secretary, as well as leaders of the Free State's
ANC Youth League. In 2019, while testifying at the
Zondo Commission, Dukwana made a number of accusations about Magashule's alleged involvement in
state capture under
President Zuma's administration. Among other things, he alleged that Magashule had accepted
bribes from the controversial
Gupta family; Dukwana said that Tony Gupta had personally told him about the bribes during a 2011 meeting, also attended by Magashule and
Duduzane Zuma, at which Dukwana himself, then MEC for Economic Development, had been offered a bribe in exchange for approving a multimillion-
rand Gupta-linked contract. Magashule denied Dukwana's allegations, Dukwana said that he believed that Magashule had sacked him as an MEC in 2012 due to his refusal to cooperate with the Guptas' proposal, as well as because he intended to challenge Magashule for the ANC chairmanship.
Return as MEC On 28 September 2021, Dukwana was sworn in again as a Member of the Free State Provincial Legislature;
News24 reported that he was expected to be in line for appointment as an MEC under Premier Ntombela.
Election to ANC chair In the Free State ANC, Magashule was succeeded as Provincial Chairperson by his ally
Sam Mashinini. However, in May 2021, the ANC's
National Executive Committee – by then under the leadership of Zuma's successor,
Cyril Ramaphosa – disbanded Mashinini's provincial leadership corps and appointed an interim task team to take its place until fresh leadership elections could be held. Dukwana was appointed to lead the provincial party as convenor of the interim committee. In his new position, Dukwana faced hostile opposition from pro-Zuma and pro-Magashule groups in the provincial party. By mid-2022, Dukwana, along with
Thabo Manyoni, was viewed as a frontrunner for election as ANC Provincial Chairperson at the next party conference. At the ANC's provincial elective conference held in January 2023 at the Imvelo Safari Lodge in
Bloemfontein, he was the only candidate to have received enough nominations from the 242 qualified branches in the province to contest the position. Manyoni, who was expected to also contest the position, withdrew in favour of premier
Sisi Ntombela after last-minute negotiations resulted in an agreement that Ntombela was best suited to defeat Dukwana. Dukwana ended up defeating Ntombela in a vote that went 346 votes for Dukwana and 306 for Ntombela. Candidates on Dukwana's
slate also made a clean sweep of the Top 5 leadership positions contested at the conference. == Premier of the Free State: 2023–2024 ==