ZUMA'S PREMIERS

NORTHERN CAPE: HAZEL JENKINS

THE relatively unknown 48-year-old former teacher is mayor of the Bo-Karoo district and a former deputy chairman of the SA Local Government Association. She has been a councillor in the De Aar, Emthanjeni and Karoo district municipalities.

EASTERN CAPE: NOXOLO KIVIET

A FORMER trade unionist, Kiviet has been in the Eastern Cape provincial legislature since 1994.

In 1996 she became the ANC's provincial treasurer. She has been speaker of the provincial legislature since 2004, where she earned the reputation of being impartial.

Hardly a prominent figure, her endorsement by the ANC's national executive committee came as a surprise to the ANC's alliance partners in the province, as she was up against relatively powerful candidates: the incumbent, Mbulelo Sogoni, and provincial executive committee member Mcebisi Jonas.

Kiviet has no experience in the provincial cabinet.

NORTH WEST: MAUREEN MODISELLE

A FORMER nurse, and regarded as more of a technocrat that a political schemer, Modiselle is currently the finance MEC.

She has been in the provincial cabinet since 1999, heading the portfolios of economic development and tourism, and safety and security.

She is provincial treasurer for the ANC Women's League.

MPUMALANGA: DAVID MABUZA

THE Mpumalanga ANC provincial chairman' s ascension to the province's premiership was not short of controversy.

The provincial executive committee was packed with Mabuza supporters when it met to nominate three people for the premiership, and put forward Mabuza and other two obviously weak candidates.

Real challengers, such as Lassy Chiwayo, Candith Mashego-Dlamini and Madala Masuku, had been eliminated early in the process.

Mabuza has extensive experience in provincial government, having served as MEC of portfolios such as education, agriculture, and roads and transport.

He was once a Mpumalanga delegate in the National Council of Provinces.

LIMPOPO: CASSEL MATHALE

LIMPOPO premier and ANC chairman Cassel Mathale is a close ally of ANC Youth League president Julius Malema.

It was Malema who ensured that Mathale was twice elected provincial secretary.

When he finally decided to contest the party's provincial chairmanship against then premier Sello Moloto, it was Malema's protégé and predecessor in the province, Lehlogonolo Masoga, who backed him for the position.

Those who have worked with him say he is a good administrator and manager.

"Even if he becomes pushy, you don't feel it because he does it in the most polite of ways," said Herman Nkuna who works in the provincial ANC office.

Mathale is a former leader of the SA Youth Congress.

He has also previously served as the ANCYL provincial secretary, and held the position of roads and transport MEC before becoming premier earlier this year.

GAUTENG: NOMVULA MOKONYANE

"MAMA Action" did not get her nickname for nothing; Mokonyane is a hard worker and very energetic.

She was appointed MEC for agriculture, conservation and environment in 1996, and moved to safety and liaison in 1999.

In 2004, she was appointed housing MEC, the position she will vacate when she takes over as premier.

Colleagues say she did shy away from making unpopular decisions if it meant ensuring she delivered on her mandate. She believes in getting her hands dirty and testimony to that is her visits to different police stations while MEC for safety and security to check why there were negative reports about the police.

While she was housing MEC, she would often roll up her sleeves and help construction workers building RDP houses to encourage women to get involved in what she called the "male-dominated" construction industry.

She has received training in local government and planning management and community development in Sweden.

FREE STATE: ACE MAGASHULE

THE waiting game for Magashule is over. After 15 years the current sports MEC will finally take charge of the Free State government.

He has been a popular candidate for the Free State premiership for years, but Magashule always found himself being overlooked by former president Thabo Mbeki, who instead appointed premiers of questionable ability.

But, despite Mbeki's lack of confidence in him, his popularity in the province grew every time he contested positions for leadership.

Magashule is known to be a soft-spoken man whose attention is focused on the poor.

His detractors, though, call him the "God of the province".

KWAZULU-NATAL: ZWELI MKHIZE

MKHIZE is one of president-elect Jacob Zuma's closest allies, having working with him in the ANC's underground structures in the '80s, and taking a leading role in Zuma's march to the presidency.

A medical doctor, 53-year-old Mkhize became ANC KwaZulu-Natal deputy chairman and an NEC member in 1997, serving two terms under outgoing premier S'bu Ndebele.

He has been a provincial MEC since 1994, first for the portfolio of health and then for finance and economic development.

Mkhize has a reputation for hard work and thorough decision-making, having performed well in both his government portfolios.

Highly influential in the ANC NEC, Mkhize has recently undergone something of an image makeover, abandoning a rather stiff and distant manner ahead of the election campaign.

He has been dogged by the controversy surrounding the Ithala Bank under his tenure as finance MEC, in which key government officials, and his wife, May, were granted loans.