Lubabalo Oscar Mabuyane was born on 24 February 1974 at the small town of Engcobo in Chris Hani District Municipality, Eastern Cape. Mr Mabuyane matriculated at Lekoa Shandu High School in Sharpeville, Gauteng. During his professional tenure, Mabuyane has acquired extensive experience in policy formulation and implementation processes across the different spheres of government and at senior management level in business. Between 1995 and 2008, Mabuyane was involved in student and youth politics, where he was a member of the African National Congress Youth League (ANCYL) and South African National Students’ Congress (SASCO). He held various leadership positions in these organisations, including SASCO Branch Chairperson (1999); President of the SRC at University Fort Hare (2000). Between 2008 and 2011, Mabuyane also served as the Provincial Deputy Chairperson of the ANCYL in Eastern Cape.

Between 2002 and 2005, Mabuyane served as the Chief-of-staff in the then office of the MEC for Tourism, Economic Affairs and Finance, Mr Enoch Godongwana. Between 2005 and 2009, he served as the Managing Director of Ikamva Consulting firm. At Ikamva Consulting, Mabuyane was responsible for the overall strategic management of the company and acquired vast experience in integrated strategic planning, project management, financial management and business development.

Between 2009 and 2017, Mabuyane served for two consecutive terms as the ANC Eastern Cape Provincial Secretary and an ex-officio member of the ANC National Executive Committee. As the ANC Provincial Secretary, Mabuyane was the Chief Administrative Officer of the ANC in the Province. Thus responsible for overseeing ANC policy implementation in government, the monitoring and evaluation of government performance and playing a supervision role to ANC Provincial Legislature Caucus.

In 2018, Mabuyane served as MEC for the Eastern Cape Department of Economic Development, Environmental Affairs & Tourism. Premier Oscar Mabuyane holds a Bachelor of Commerce (Economics) degree from the University of Fort Hare and has received several leadership awards, including the prestigious John Calvin leadership award from the Evangelical Presbyterian Church of South Africa. Mabuyane is currently doing Masters in public administration at Fort Hare and serves as the ANC Eastern Cape Provincial Chairperson.