Cyril Xaba | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Mayor of eThekwini | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Assumed office 10 July 2024 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Deputy | Zandile Myeni | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Preceded by | Mxolisi Kaunda | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Member of the KwaZulu-Natal Executive Council for Agriculture and Rural Development | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
In office 26 May 2014 –6 June 2016 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Premier | Senzo Mchunu | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Preceded by | Meshack Radebe | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Succeeded by | Themba Mthembu | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Personal details | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Born | Vusumuzi Cyril Xaba 14 February 1967 Clermont,Natal Province South Africa | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Political party | African National Congress | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Alma mater | University of Natal University of KwaZulu-Natal | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Vusumuzi Cyril Xaba (born 14 February 1967) is a South African politician from KwaZulu-Natal. He has been the Mayor of eThekwini since July 2024. A member of the National Executive Committee of the African National Congress (ANC),he formerly served in the National Assembly of South Africa between July 2019 and May 2024.
Trained as a lawyer,Xaba began his political career in student politics at the University of Natal. He represented the ANC in the KwaZulu-Natal Legislature for three consecutive terms between 1994 and 2009,before taking a brief hiatus to serve as head of the KwaZulu-Natal Provincial Planning Commission and special adviser to the Premier of KwaZulu-Natal. He returned to the provincial legislature between 2014 and 2019,and he served in the Executive Council of KwaZulu-Natal from 2014 to 2016,appointed as Member of the Executive Council for Agriculture and Rural Development under Premier Senzo Mchunu.
He joined the National Assembly in the May 2019 general election and chaired the Portfolio Committee on Defence and Military Veterans during the Sixth Parliament. During this period,in December 2022,he was elected to the ANC National Executive Committee. Although he failed to win re-election to his parliamentary seat in the May 2024 general election,he became a local councillor in the eThekwini Metropolitan Municipality shortly after the election,and on 10 July 2024 he was elected to succeed Mxolisi Kaunda as the municipality's mayor.
Born on 14 February 1967, [1] Xaba was born and raised in Clermont in the former Natal Province. [2] He was the second-born of five siblings. [2] He attended Ziphathele High School in Clermont, [3] where he was active in the local leadership of the anti-apartheid Natal Students Congress and Congress of South African Students. [4]
After matriculating in 1986,he enrolled in a Bachelor of Arts at the University of Durban-Westville,majoring in law, [3] but he dropped out for political reasons. [4] Instead,he transferred to the University of Natal,where he completed a community service training certificate in 1988 and a Baccalaureus Procurationis in 1992. [3] Thereafter he enrolled in a Bachelor of Laws at the same university. [4]
He was active in the South African Students Congress as a student,and he was deputy president of the university's Black Students Society during his first year as a law student. [4] In addition,he joined the African National Congress (ANC):between 1990 and 1993,he was regional deputy chairperson and then regional chairperson of the ANC Youth League's branch in Southern Natal,and in 1993 he was elected to the regional executive committee of the mainstream ANC in Southern Natal. [4]
Xaba did not complete his Bachelor of Laws,dropping out when he became a full-time politician in 1994. [4] However,while working as a politician,he completed a Master of Laws at the University of KwaZulu-Natal in 2014. [3] [4] He also studied towards,but did not complete,a diploma in economic principles at the University of London. [4]
In South Africa's first post-apartheid elections in April 1994,Xaba was elected to represent the ANC as a member of the newly established KwaZulu-Natal Legislature. [4] From 1994 to 1999,he was the ANC's spokesperson on education. Then,from 1999 to 2009,he held a series of committee chairmanships in the legislature,leading the public works portfolio committee,the finance committee,and an ad-hoc constitutional affairs committee tasked with drafting the provincial constitution. [4] He also served a stint as the ANC's chief whip in the legislature. [4]
During the same period,he rose in the ranks of the provincial ANC;he was regional secretary of the party's branch in Durban West from 1995 to 2001,deputy chairperson of its regional branch in eThekwini from 2002 to 2007,and an elected member of the party's Provincial Executive Committee from 2004 to 2012. [4]
After the April 2009 general election,having served three consecutive terms in the legislature,Xaba took a hiatus from legislative politics to serve as special adviser to the Premier of KwaZulu-Natal. He held that position until 2014 under Premier Zweli Mkhize and his successor Senzo Mchunu. [4] Simultaneously,from 2010 to 2014,he was chairperson of the KwaZulu-Natal Provincial Planning Commission. [4]
In the May 2014 provincial election,Xaba was elected to return to the KwaZulu-Natal Legislature. Announcing his new Executive Council,Premier Mchunu appointed Xaba to replace Meshack Radebe as Member of the Executive Council (MEC) for Agriculture and Rural Development. [5] [6] He oversaw a foot-and-mouth disease prevention campaign in the province. [7]
However,Premier Mchunu was unceremoniously ousted from the provincial leadership of the ANC in November 2015,losing an internal election to Sihle Zikalala,and in May 2016 the ANC removed Mchunu from the premier's office. On 6 June 2016,newly elected Premier Willies Mchunu sacked Xaba from the Executive Council,replacing him with Themba Mthembu;he was fired alongside three other MECs who had also been viewed as political allies of Senzo Mchunu. [8]
Xaba served the rest of the legislative term as an ordinary Member of the Provincial Legislature. [9] In June 2017 he attended a CR17 campaign event in Dambuza,fuelling rumors that he had joined Senzo Mchunu in supporting Cyril Ramaphosa's bid to be elected as ANC president. [10]
In the May 2019 general election,Xaba was elected to a seat in the National Assembly,the lower house of the South African Parliament;he represented the ANC in the assembly's KwaZulu-Natal caucus. [11] In the aftermath of the election,the ANC announced that it would nominate him to chair the National Assembly's Portfolio Committee on Defence and Military Veterans. [12] At the committee's first meeting on 2 July 2019,he was duly elected,unopposed,as chairperson. [13] [14] On 25 July 2019,he was additionally elected as co-chairperson of Parliament's Joint Standing Committee on Defence,serving alongside Elleck Nchabeleng of the National Council of Provinces. [15] He held both positions during two major domestic deployments of the South African National Defence Force,first during the COVID-19 pandemic of 2020 and then during the civil unrest of 2021. [16] [17]
Alongside his defence portfolios,Xaba was a member of other high-profile portfolios. Between 2020 and 2021,he was a member of the ad hoc committee tasked with considering legislation to amend Section 25 of the Constitution to address land expropriation;he served as the ANC's whip in that committee. [18] [19] And in 2023 he was elected as chairperson of the ad hoc committee that selected Kholeka Gcaleka to succeed Busisiwe Mkhwebane as Public Protector. [20] [21] He also represented the National Assembly at the Judicial Service Commission. [22] [23]
Meanwhile,in December 2022,Xaba attended the ANC's 55th National Conference,which elected him to his first five-year term as a member of the party's National Executive Committee. He received 1,128 votes across roughly 4,000 ballots,making him the 50th-most popular member of the 80-member committee. [24] At the new committee's first meeting in February 2023,he was appointed as chairperson of the committee's subcommittee on legal and constitutional affairs,with Faith Muthambi as his deputy. [25] However,in September 2023,he was moved to a new portfolio,replacing Mdu Manana as chairperson of the party's National Dispute Resolution Committee;Justice Minister Ronald Lamola replaced him in his former subcommittee position. [26]
In the May 2024 general election,Xaba stood for re-election to the National Assembly,now ranked 82nd on the ANC's national party list. [1] Because of the ANC's poor electoral performance,he narrowly failed to win a seat. [27]
In the aftermath of the May 2024 election,the incumbent Mayor of eThekwini,Mxolisi Kaunda,was asked by the ANC to resign his mayoral office in order to take up a parliamentary seat. Xaba,in turn,was sworn in to an ANC council seat in the eThekwini Metropolitan Municipality. [28] He was immediately regarded as a possible candidate to succeed Kaunda,though there were reports that his ascension would face resistance both from inside the local ANC and from the ANC's coalition partners in the council,the Democratic Alliance and Inkatha Freedom Party. [29] [30] Nonetheless,on 10 July 2024,Xaba was elected unopposed as mayor of eThekwini. [31] [32]
Bongiwe Nomusa Sithole-Moloi (née Sithole) is a South African politician who served as KwaZulu-Natal's Member of the Executive Council (MEC) for Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs from February 2023 until June 2024. She represented the African National Congress (ANC) in the KwaZulu-Natal Provincial Legislature from 2014 until May 2024.
Edward Senzo Mchunu is a South African politician currently serving as Minister of Police since 30 June 2024. A member of the African National Congress (ANC),he has been a cabinet minister since May 2019. He was formerly the Premier of KwaZulu-Natal between 22 August 2013 and 23 May 2016.
Thomas Mxolisi Kaunda is a South African politician from KwaZulu-Natal serving as a Permanent Delegate to the National Council of Provinces since 2024. Prior to serving in parliament,he was the Mayor of the eThekwini Metropolitan Municipality from 2019 until 2024. He was the KwaZulu-Natal MEC for Transport,Community Safety and Liaison from 2016 to 2019 and a member of the KwaZulu-Natal Legislature from 2009 to 2019. Kaunda is a member of the ruling African National Congress (ANC).
Nomusa Dube-Ncube is a South African politician and former diplomat who was the 9th Premier of KwaZulu-Natal from August 2022 to June 2024. A member of the African National Congress,she is the first woman to hold the office. She was succeeded by Thami Ntuli.
Muntukayise Bhekuyise Ntuli was a South African politician. A member of the African National Congress,he served as a Member of the National Assembly of South Africa from 1999 to 2003,when he resigned amid fraud allegations. He was then elected to the KwaZulu-Natal Legislature in 2009. On 11 September 2019,Ntuli became the Member of the Executive Council for Transport,Community Safety &Liaison,replacing Mxolisi Kaunda,who was elected Mayor of the eThekwini Metropolitan Municipality. Ntuli died on 16 January 2021,from complications of COVID-19.
Thembeka Vuyisile Buyisile Mchunu is a South African politician from KwaZulu-Natal serving as a Member of the National Assembly of South Africa since 2019. A member of the African National Congress,she served as the Executive Mayor of the Uthungulu District Municipality from 2011 to 2016. She is married to Senzo Mchunu,the current Minister of Water and Sanitation and the former premier of KwaZulu-Natal.
Ntuthuko Mbongiseni Sibiya,known as Jomo Sibiya,is a South African politician who served as the Member of the Executive Council (MEC) for Human Settlements and Public Works in KwaZulu-Natal from March 2021 until August 2022. A member of the African National Congress,Sibiya was elected to the KwaZulu-Natal Legislature in 2014. He is the incumbent Minister for Employment and Labour in the Cabinet of South Africa,serving since 3 July 2024.
Siboniso Armstrong Duma is a South African politician who is the provincial chairperson of the African National Congress (ANC) in KwaZulu-Natal. He is also Member of the Executive Council (MEC) for Transport and Human Settlements in the KwaZulu-Natal government.
Mdumiseni Ntuli is a South African politician. He has represented the African National Congress (ANC) in the National Assembly since June 2024,and he formerly served in the KwaZulu-Natal Provincial Legislature from May 2016 to July 2018. He left the latter position to serve as Provincial Secretary of the ANC's KwaZulu-Natal branch,an office he held between 2018 and 2022.
The Executive Council of KwaZulu-Natal is the cabinet of the executive branch of the provincial government in the South African province of KwaZulu-Natal. The Members of the Executive Council (MECs) are appointed from among the members of the KwaZulu-Natal Provincial Legislature by the Premier of KwaZulu-Natal,an office held since May 2024 by Thami Ntuli of the Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP).
Richard Themba Mthembu is a South African politician who represented the African National Congress in the KwaZulu-Natal Provincial Legislature from 2009 until 2024. He was formerly KwaZulu-Natal's Member of the Executive Council for Agriculture and Rural Development from June 2016 to May 2019. He has also served as Provincial Secretary of the South African Communist Party in KwaZulu-Natal since 2002.
Weziwe Gcotyelwa Thusi is a South African politician who represented the African National Congress (ANC) in the KwaZulu-Natal Provincial Legislature and KwaZulu-Natal Executive Council until 2019. Most prominently,she was KwaZulu-Natal's Member of the Executive Council (MEC) for Social Development from 2011 to 2019. She later served as Speaker of the eThekweni Metropolitan Council from 2019 until 2021,when she resigned from politics.
Michael Mabuyakhulu is a South African politician and former trade unionist who represented the African National Congress (ANC) in the KwaZulu-Natal Provincial Legislature between 1994 and 2016. He also served for seventeen years in the KwaZulu-Natal Executive Council,most prominently as Member of the Executive Council (MEC) for Economic Development and Tourism from 2009 to 2016.
Nhlakanipho Ntombela is a South African politician who has represented the African National Congress (ANC) in the KwaZulu-Natal Provincial Legislature since before 2014. He is also a longstanding member of the Provincial Executive Committee of the KwaZulu-Natal ANC,and in December 2021 he was elected Deputy Regional Chairperson of the ANC's Moses Mabhida branch in Umgungundlovu District.
James Sikhosiphi Nxumalo is a South African politician who has represented the African National Congress (ANC) in the KwaZulu-Natal Provincial Legislature since 2019. He was formerly the Mayor of eThekwini from 2011 to 2016,and during that time he was engaged in a strident political rivalry with Zandile Gumede,who became his successor. He was elected to a five-year term on the Central Committee of the South African Communist Party (SACP) in 2022,and he has served as the Provincial Chairperson of the SACP's KwaZulu-Natal branch for over a decade.
Mthandeni Eric Dlungwana,also spelled Dlungwane,is a South African politician who represented the African National Congress (ANC) in the KwaZulu-Natal Provincial Legislature between 2011 and 2019. He was formerly KwaZulu-Natal's Member of the Executive Council (MEC) for Education from 2016 to 2019 under Premier Willies Mchunu.
Sipho Joseph Gcabashe is a South African politician and businessman who represented the African National Congress (ANC) in the KwaZulu-Natal Provincial Legislature until 2019,when he failed to gain re-election. He was also Provincial Secretary of the ANC's KwaZulu-Natal branch from 1996 to 2005.
Sithembiso Wiseman Mshengu is a South African politician who has represented the African National Congress (ANC) in the KwaZulu-Natal Provincial Legislature since 2019. He was elected to the provincial legislature in the 2019 general election,ranked 35th on the ANC's provincial party list.
Belinda Francis Scott,formerly Belinda Barrett,is a South African politician who was KwaZulu-Natal's Member of the Executive Council (MEC) for Finance from 2014 to 2019. She served several terms in the KwaZulu-Natal Provincial Legislature from 1994 to 2019,representing the African National Congress (ANC) from 2002 onwards after defecting from both the Democratic Party and the Inkatha Freedom Party. After she left the provincial legislature in 2019,she served as Deputy Mayor of eThekwini from September 2019 until she resigned from politics in February 2021.
The Government of KwaZulu-Natal is the subnational government of the South African province of KwaZulu-Natal (KZN). The politics of the province take place in the framework of a constitutional monarchy and liberal multi-party parliamentary democracy within a constitutional republic whereby the King of the Zulu Nation is the ceremonial figurehead of an elected government. The provincial government comprises the second sphere of government of South Africa and consists of three branches with checks and balances between them as follows: