KwaZulu-Natal is a province of South Africa that was created in 1994 when the government merged the Zulu bantustan of KwaZulu and Natal Province.
The Inkatha Freedom Party is a conservative political party in South Africa, which is a part of the current South African government of national unity together with the African National Congress (ANC). Although registered as a national party, it has had only minor electoral success outside its home province of KwaZulu-Natal. Mangosuthu Buthelezi, who served as chief minister of KwaZulu during the Apartheid period, founded the party in 1975 and led it until 2019. He was succeeded as party president in 2019 by Velenkosini Hlabisa.
The KwaZulu-Natal Legislature is the primary legislative body of the South African province of KwaZulu-Natal. It is unicameral in its composition and elects the premier and the provincial cabinet from among the leading party or coalition members in the parliament. Thami Ntuli of the Inkatha Freedom Party was elected Premier of KwaZulu-Natal at the first sitting of the provincial legislature on 14 June 2024.
The premier of KwaZulu-Natal is the head of government of the KwaZulu-Natal province of South Africa. The current premier of KwaZulu-Natal is Thami Ntuli, a member of the Inkatha Freedom Party. He took office on 18 June 2024.
The nine provinces of South Africa are governed by provincial governments which form the second layer of government, between the national government and the municipalities. The provincial governments are established, and their structure defined, by Chapter Six of the Constitution of South Africa.
Francoise Adrianus Rodgers, known as Francois Rodgers, is a South African politician from KwaZulu-Natal who has been the Member of the Executive Council for Finance since 2024 and the provincial leader of Democratic Alliance (DA) since 2021.
Nomagugu Simelane-Zulu is a South African lawyer and African National Congress (ANC) politician who has been serving as the KwaZulu-Natal MEC for Health since May 2019. She became a Member of the KwaZulu-Natal Legislature in May 2014. She was the chair of the legislature's Agriculture Portfolio Committee from 2014 to 2019. Simelane-Zulu was previously involved in the African National Congress Youth League (ANCYL).
Siphosihle Emmanuel Hlomuka is a South African politician who is the Member of the Executive Council (MEC) for Education in KwaZulu-Natal, having been appointed in June 2024. He served as the MEC for Co-operative Governance and Traditional Affairs from May 2019 to August 2022 and then as the MEC for Transport, Community Safety and Liaison from August 2022 until June 2024. Hlomuka was sworn in as a Member of the Provincial Legislature in May 2019. He is the deputy provincial secretary of the African National Congress.
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.
Neliswa Peggy Nkonyeni is a South African politician and educator. A member of the African National Congress, she was the Member of the Executive Council (MEC) for Finance in KwaZulu-Natal from August 2022 until June 2024.
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.
Nkululeko Ntuthuko Mahlaba is a South African politician and healthcare practitioner. A member of the African National Congress, he serves as the party's provincial treasurer in KwaZulu-Natal as well as the chairperson of the party's Mbuso Kubheka Region. From August 2022 to May 2023, he was the MEC for Human Settlements and Public Works and he then served as the MEC for Sports, Arts and Culture from August 2022 until June 2024. Mahlaba previously served as the executive mayor of the Newcastle Local Municipality from 2019 to 2021.
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).
Bonginkosi Meshack Radebe is a South African politician who represented the African National Congress (ANC) in the KwaZulu-Natal Legislature until May 2019. He was formerly Deputy Speaker in the legislature and also served as a Member of the Executive Council (MEC) in KwaZulu-Natal from 2009 to 2014. He was known for his role in mediating the political violence between the ANC and Inkatha in Mpumalanga, KwaZulu-Natal in the 1990s.
Lukas Marthinus Meyer is a South African politician who has been KwaZulu-Natal's Member of the Executive Council (MEC) for Public Works and Infrastructure since 2024 and a Member of the KwaZulu-Natal Provincial Legislature since May 2019, representing the Democratic Alliance. Meyer had previously served as a DA councillor in the eThekwini Metropolitan Municipality from 2011 to 2019.
The 2024 KwaZulu-Natal provincial election was held on 29 May 2024, concurrently with the 2024 South African general election, to elect the 80 members of the 7th KwaZulu-Natal Legislature. The new MK party flipped KwaZulu Natal from the ANC, earning 37 out of 80 seats to gain a plurality. Conversely, the ANC itself plummeted to the third place, losing its majority in the legislature for the first time since 2004.
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:
