Elected into the ANC's highest decision-making body at the party's national conference, Dr David Masondo has already made waves in the party by tabling a motion for President Jacob Zuma to step down as Head of State.
The motion was brought at the National Executive Committee meeting at the St.George's Hotel in Irene on Friday evening.
Three sources attending the two-day meeting reportedly told News24 that the motion was raised by Masondo and was backed by Deputy Minister of Agriculture, Bheki Cele.
But who is Dr.David Masondo?
In 2015, Masondo was appointed as CEO of the Automotive Industry Development Centre after serving in an acting role for a few months.
Before that, he was a lecturer at the University of Witwatersrand University, held the position as MEC for Provincial Treasury in Limpopo and served as Chief Director for the Department of Economic Development in Gauteng.
He was born in Limpopo and after matriculating, began teaching diploma at Giyani College. While there, he joined the ANC's alliance partner, the South African Communist Party, and served in various senior positions, including on its central committee.
Masondo moved on to study at Wits where he ascended the academic ranks to complete his PhD, all the while sitting as the president of the student representative council at the university.
In an interview with City Press last year, he said: "I am interested in knowledge – probing scientifically into different phenomena or problems that society experiences – and I felt you couldn't answer these problems through slogans".
"You have to have some kind of discipline in how you scientifically probe or deal with the questions. I felt the best way to have a good political argument on any issue was always to have a discipline of thought, as opposed to shouting and spitting out rhetoric," he said in the interview.