Formerly a prominent trade unionist and anti-apartheid activist in the Transvaal, Thibedi also served as Deputy Provincial Chairperson of the North West ANC from 1998 to 2005.
[2] After the end of apartheid, he completed two diplomas at the Harvard Kennedy School and a master's in governance and political transformation at the University of the Free State.
[2] The officers said that they – and notorious askari Joe Mamasela – had carried out the attack with a coffee tin packed with explosives, under orders to assassinate Thibedi because of his involvement in consumer boycotts in the Transvaal.
[2] He served in that office until a 2002 reshuffle saw him moved to a new portfolio as MEC for Roads and Public Works, where he remained until the end of Molefe's premiership.
[10] In June 2013, he was elected to chair the Portfolio Committee on Rural and Agrarian Reform, succeeding Stone Sizani, who had been appointed Majority Chief Whip.