He failed to gain re-election to the provincial legislature in the 2019 general election.
[1] Just over a year after the election, he was appointed to the Free State Executive Council by Premier Ace Magashule, who named him as MEC for Agriculture and Rural Development.
[2] He remained in the Agriculture and Rural Development portfolio until 9 May 2018, when Magashule's successor, Premier Sisi Ntombela, announced a reshuffle which saw him appointed as MEC for Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs.
[3] A year later, in the 2019 general election, Khoabane left the provincial legislature, and therefore the Executive Council, after failing to gain re-election; he was ranked 27th on the ANC's provincial party list in the election and lost his legislative seat.
[1] In May 2015, the national leadership of the ANC appointed an interim provincial committee to lead the Free State ANC after the elected provincial leadership corps, headed by Sam Mashinini, was declared unlawful in court.