He served as the Chairperson of the Portfolio Committee on Sports, Arts and Culture and after that he held several positions in the Free State Executive Council from 2011 to 2019.
[1] Komphela rose to public prominence as the Chairperson of the Portfolio Committee on Sports, Arts and Culture,[5][6] a position to which he was elected in June 2004.
[8] He was re-elected to his seat in the National Assembly in the 2009 general election, but he left Parliament in June 2011 when he was appointed to the Free State Executive Council in a reshuffle by Premier Ace Magashule.
[9] Komphela joined Magashule's provincial government as the Free State's Member of the Executive Council (MEC) for Police, Roads and Transport; he filled a vacancy that had arisen from Thabo Manyoni's resignation.
[14] In December 2021, Komphela was admitted to hospital in Bloemfontein, where he received treatment for COVID-19-related illness, complicated by a pre-existing lung condition.