He was formerly a political advisor to Thandi Modise while she was Premier of the North West and Chairperson of the National Council of Provinces.
In November 2022, the Financial Mail reported that Chauke had resigned as Ramaphosa's political advisor amid his campaign for election as ANC Treasurer-General at the party's 55th National Conference.
[3] He was special advisor to Modise when she was North West Premier; he was installed in this position by the time of the Marikana massacre in August 2012.
[5][6][7] He was advisor to Modise in 2014 when she was investigated on animal cruelty charges relating to her private farm in the North West;[8][9] in 2019, he appeared as a witness in the case.
[16] In August 2016, he was reportedly involved in securing the controversial involvement of businessman Cheslyn Mostert in the campaign; as Chauke urged that "things needed to move quickly" and operational infrastructure needed to be established, Mostert provided the campaign with a base on his smallholding at Randjesfontein on the Midrand.
[3] Chauke would not confirm or deny that he intended to contest the position, saying, "I will wait for branches of the ANC to speak their minds on the matter.
[3] At that time he was also the managing director of Acute Strategies, a consultancy firm which according to News24 regularly worked on election campaigns in African countries.
[43] Tlhakudi claimed that he had been "iced from his role" in the department after he alerted Chauke and Phindile Baleni, the Director-General in the Presidency, to allegations that Public Enterprises Minister Pravin Gordhan had been involved in improprieties related to the sale of the government's stake in South African Airways.
[43] In October 2022, News24 reported that Chauke was an "associate" of Hangwani Morgan Maumela and that they were neighbours in a gated estate in Hyde Park, Johannesburg.
During the burglary, which was made public by Arthur Fraser in 2022, a group of people, reportedly Namibian nationals, stole a large sum of dollars in cash.
In July 2022, Mzilikazi wa Afrika reported for the Sunday Independent that the head of the Presidential Protection Service, Wally Rhoode, had told the Public Protector that Chauke had met Namibian President Hage Geingob to discuss the burglary.
[49][50] It also alleged that after Fraser exposed the burglary in June 2022, Chauke transferred a further $20 million in cash to a property developer in Cape Town for "safekeeping".