Mervyn Dirks | |
---|---|
Member of the KwaZulu-Natal Provincial Legislature | |
Assumed office 14 June 2024 | |
Member of the KwaZulu-Natal Provincial Legislature | |
In office 22 June 2023 –25 February 2024 | |
Member of the National Assembly of South Africa | |
In office 21 May 2014 –30 January 2023 | |
Personal details | |
Born | Mervyn Alexander Dirks |
Nationality | South African |
Political party | UMkhonto WeSizwe |
Other political affiliations | African National Congress until Feb 2024 |
Profession | Politician |
Mervyn Alexander Dirks is a South African politician who served as a Member of the KwaZulu-Natal Provincial Legislature from June 2023 until February 2024. A former member of the African National Congress,he previously served as a member of the National Assembly from May 2014 to January 2023.
During his tenure in parliament,he was the ANC's chief whip in the Standing Committee on Public Accounts until his suspension in January 2022. Dirks was a municipal councillor of the Msunduzi Local Municipality where he served as the deputy mayor.
Dirks joined Jacob Zuma's UMkhonto WeSizwe (MK) party in 2024 and was the MK party's KwaZulu-Natal legislature speaker candidate,however,he was defeated by Ntobeko Boyce of the African National Congress. [1]
Dirks grew up in the previous Transkei bantustan. He had to use a passport to cross the Umzimkulu River to attend school in the former Natal Province. He soon completed matric. [2]
Dirks began his political activism by participating in the Happy Valley rent boycotts. He joined the United Democratic Front in the 1980s and became the organisation's head organiser in the Midlands of KwaZulu-Natal. [2] In 1995,Dirks was elected as a municipal councillor of the Pietermaritzburg municipality. Following the 2006 municipal election,he became a member of the executive committee of the Msunduzi Local Municipality as he was elected deputy mayor. He served in the position until 2010,when the ANC recalled the municipal leadership. [3] Dirks was elected as an MP at the 2014 general election held on 7 May. He was sworn into office on 21 May 2014. The following year,Dirks was elected to the provincial executive committee of the ANC in KwaZulu-Natal. He was re-elected for a second term as an MP in May 2019. In June 2019,he became the chief whip of the ANC in the Standing Committee on Public Accounts. [4]
In January 2022,Dirks wrote a letter to the chairperson of the Standing Committee on Public Accounts (SCOPA),Mkhuleko Hlengwa,in which he requested that the committee to summon ANC president and the current President of South Africa,Cyril Ramaphosa,to appear in front of the committee for his alleged misuse of state funds for party activities. [5] Ramaphosa said in a leaked audio recording that "Investigations will reveal that a lot of public money was used (to fund political campaigns)." On 17 January,ANC chief whip Pemmy Majodina asked Dirks in a letter to withdraw his letter to Hlengwa. Dirks refused and on the same day,he wrote to the ANC's strategy group and demanded that they explain to him as to why he needs to withdraw his letter. On 20 January 2022,the ANC suspended Dirks's membership of the ANC parliamentary group pending disciplinary action against him for his "unbecoming conduct". His membership of the SCOPA was also suspended and he was removed as the whip of the ANC's SCOPA study group. His membership of the ANC's strategy group was also suspended and he was removed from ANC caucus WhatsApp groups. [6] [7] [8] Despite Dirks' suspension,SCOPA chair Hlengwa has said that the investigation will continue. [9]
On 13 December 2022,Dirks was one of five ANC MPs who defied the party whip to vote against the adoption on the Section 89 Panel report on whether sufficient evidence exists to show that President Cyril Ramaphosa committed a serious violation of the Constitution or law or committed a serious misconduct amid the 2020 Phala Phala Robbery. [10]
On 30 January 2023,it was reported that Dirks and fellow ANC MP Tshilidzi Munyai had resigned from the National Assembly amid an impending Cabinet reshuffle by President Cyril Ramaphosa. Dirks said on his resignation that he would remain a party member. [11] [12]
Dirks was sworn in as a member of the KwaZulu-Natal Legislature on 22 June 2023. He filled the casual vacancy arising from Kwazi Mshengu's resignation. [13]
Dirks was expelled from the ANC on 25 February 2024 for aligning himself to former president Jacob Zuma's Umkhonto we Sizwe party which he subsequently joined. [14] [15]
In 2017,Dirks attempted to disrupt a parliamentary debate regarding state capture. [16] In August of that same year,he showed middle finger to the opposition MPs. He did it again on 30 November, [17] after he called opposition MP Phumzile van Damme a "straatmeid" (prostitute). [18] On that same day,he also threatened fellow ANC MP Tozama Mantashe,the younger sister of senior party politician Gwede Mantashe. [19] ANC chief whip Jackson Mthembu condemned his actions. [20]
In September 2017,The Witness reported that Dirks had an outstanding municipal debt over R60,000. [21] Later,in 2019,Dirks was referred to the parliamentary Ethics Committee after he called certain MPs "dogs". [22]
Samson Gwede Mantashe is a South African politician and former trade unionist who is currently serving as the Minister of Mineral and Petroleum Resources. He has been responsible for the mineral resources portfolio since February 2018,formerly as Minister of Mineral Resources from February 2018 to May 2019 and then as Minister of Mineral Resources and Energy from May 2019 to June 2024. He is also serving his second term as the national chairperson of the African National Congress (ANC).
Zwelini Lawrence Mkhize is a South African medical doctor and politician who served as the Minister of Health from May 2019 until his resignation on 5 August 2021. He previously served as the Minister of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs from 2018 to 2019. Before that,he was the fifth Premier of KwaZulu-Natal from 2009 to 2013. He was also the Chancellor of the University of KwaZulu-Natal from 2009 to 2017.
Emmanuel Nkosinathi Mthethwa is a South African politician who is currently serving as South African Ambassador to France. He represented the African National Congress (ANC) in the National Assembly of South Africa between 2002 and 2023,and he was a cabinet minister between September 2008 and March 2023.
John Henry Steenhuisen is a South African politician who is currently serving as Minister of Agriculture since July 2024. He has been the leader of the Democratic Alliance (DA) since November 2020,having served as the interim leader for one year from November 2019. He served as the twentieth leader of the Opposition from October 2019 to June 2024. Pursuant to the 2024 South African general election,he was appointed to the third cabinet of Cyril Ramaphosa when the DA joined the Government of National Unity (GNU).
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.
Siyabonga Cyprian Cwele is a South African politician who served in the cabinet of South Africa from September 2008 to May 2019,most recently as the Minister of Home Affairs between 2018 and 2019. He was appointed as the South African Ambassador to China in December 2020. He is a member of the African National Congress (ANC) and represented the party in Parliament from 1994 to 2019.
Mbangiseni David Mahlobo is a South African politician who has served as the Deputy Minister of Water and Sanitation since August 2021. He has been responsible for the water and sanitation portfolio since May 2019,initially as Deputy Minister of Human Settlements,Water and Sanitation. A member of the National Assembly since May 2014,he was formerly the Minister of State Security from May 2014 to October 2017 and the Minister of Energy from October 2017 to February 2018.
General elections were held in South Africa on 8 May 2019 to elect a new President,National Assembly and provincial legislatures in each province. These were the sixth elections held since the end of apartheid in 1994 and determined who would become the next President of South Africa.
Sindisiwe Lydia Chikunga is a South African politician who is serving as the Minister in the Presidency for Women,Youth and Persons with Disabilities since 2024. A member of the African National Congress,she has been a Member of the National Assembly of South Africa since 2004. Chikunga had previously served as Deputy Minister of Transport twice,from 2012 to 2019 and again from 2021 to 2023,as Deputy Minister of Public Service and Administration from 2019 until 2021,and as Minister of Transport from 2023 to 2024. She is a midwife by profession.
Sihle Zikalala is a South African politician from KwaZulu-Natal who has been a Member of the National Assembly of South Africa since 2023,representing the African National Congress. He was Minister of Public Works and Infrastructure from March 2023 to June 2024. Before his redeployment to the national government,he had been the Member of the Executive Council (MEC) for Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs in KwaZulu-Natal and a Member of the KwaZulu-Natal Legislature.
The 27th South African Parliament was the sixth Parliament of South Africa to convene since the introduction of non-racial government in South Africa in 1994. It was elected in the general election of 8 May 2019 and consists of the National Assembly and the National Council of Provinces. The National Assembly contains 400 members,while the National Council of Provinces contains 90 members. It was formally opened by President Ramaphosa's State of the Nation Address in a joint sitting on 20 June 2019.
Mkhuleko Hlengwa is a South African politician who is currently serving as the Deputy Minister of Transport since July 2024. He is the national spokesperson of the Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP) and has represented the party in the National Assembly since May 2012.
Bavelile Gloria Hlongwa was a South African chemical engineer and politician from KwaZulu-Natal and a party member of the African National Congress (ANC). She was the Deputy Minister of Mineral Resources and Energy and a Member of the National Assembly of South Africa from May 2019 until her death in September 2019.
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.
The 55th National Conference of the African National Congress (ANC) was a party conference of the African National Congress,a political party in South Africa,that took place from 16 to 20 December 2022,at the Johannesburg Expo Centre in Nasrec,Gauteng. Attended by 4,426 voting delegates,the conference elected the party's 87-member National Executive Committee,including the top officials –for the first time referred to as the "Top Seven," rather than the "Top Six," following an amendment to the party's constitution to introduce a second deputy secretary-general position. Delegates also adopted resolutions on governance and policy,informed by the outcomes of the ANC's 6th National Policy Conference held in July 2022.
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.
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.
Thulani Vincent Xulu is a South African politician who has represented the African National Congress (ANC) in the KwaZulu-Natal Provincial Legislature since 2019. He was formerly a local councillor in Msunduzi Local Municipality.
Alpha Shelembe is a South African politician who represented the African National Congress (ANC) in the KwaZulu-Natal Provincial Legislature from 2014 to 2019. Between 2006 and 2011,he was a local councillor in Msunduzi Local Municipality,where he was Speaker from 2006 to 2010 and Deputy Mayor for a brief period in 2011. He resigned from the council in June 2011 after prolonged protests calling for his removal. He is also known for his activities as a local ANC leader in the party's Moses Mabhida branch in Umgungundlovu,including as the branch's regional chairperson between 2012 and 2014.
Nozabelo Ruth Bhengu,formerly known as Ruth Ntshulana-Bhengu,is a South African politician and businesswoman who represented the African National Congress (ANC) in the National Assembly until 2019. She is also a former president of the South African National Civic Organisation (SANCO) and was a member of the ANC's National Executive Committee from 2007 to 2022.
Former mayor Zanele Hlatshwayo, her deputy Mervin Dirks and another exco member and Themba Zungu were given the boot for the municipality's poor performance.