Zukiswa Ncitha | |
---|---|
Delegate to the National Council of Provinces | |
Assembly Member for Eastern Cape | |
In office 17 June 2015 –28 May 2024 | |
Mayor of Buffalo City | |
In office 31 May 2011 –June 2015 | |
Preceded by | Position established |
Succeeded by | Alfred Mtsi |
Personal details | |
Born | New Brighton,Cape Province South Africa |
Political party | African National Congress |
Other political affiliations | South African Communist Party |
Zukiswa Veronica Ncitha is a South African politician from the Eastern Cape. She was the inaugural Executive Mayor of Buffalo City Metropolitan Municipality between May 2011 and June 2015. After that she represented the African National Congress (ANC) in the National Council of Provinces from June 2015 to May 2024.
In June 2014,while serving as mayor,Ncitha was arrested in connection with the alleged misappropriation of public funds designated for former President Nelson Mandela's funeral. The ANC removed her from the mayoral office,transferring her to Parliament,a year later. Her trial on charges of fraud and corruption was ongoing as of 2024.
A former union activist in the Eastern Cape,Ncitha rose to prominence as a regional leader of the Congress of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu). She served on the Central Committee of the South African Communist Party (SACP) from 2007 until 2012.
Ncitha was born in New Brighton in Port Elizabeth in the former Cape Province. [1] She rose to political prominence through the trade union movement as a regional leader of the ANC-allied Cosatu. In 1990,she was elected as Cosatu's convenor on gender issues in the Border region,and in 1994 she was seconded to the Office of the Eastern Cape Premier to help establish the provincial government's Office on the Status of Women. [2]
She was elected to the executive of the Women's National Coalition in 1999 and was a founding member of the Progressive Women's Movement in 2006. [2] She also served one term as a member of the Central Committee of the SACP from 2007 to 2012. [3]
Until 2011,Ncitha represented the ANC as a local councillor and council speaker in Amathole District Municipality. [4] On 31 May 2011,following the 2011 local elections,she was elected as Executive Mayor of the newly established Buffalo City Metropolitan Municipality. [2] She served in that office until June 2015.
In June 2014,Ncitha was arrested in connection with an investigation by the Hawks into the alleged misuse of public funds that had been designated for the funeral of former President Nelson Mandela,who died in December 2013. She and several other Buffalo City officials,including her deputy Themba Tinta,were charged with fraud and money laundering. [5] In June 2015,while the charges against her were pending,the ANC removed Ncitha from her post as Buffalo Mayor;she was succeeded by Alfred Mtsi. [6]
Directly after removing Ncitha from the mayoral office,the ANC deployed her to a seat in the National Council of Provinces,where she was sworn in on 17 June to fill a casual vacancy. [2] [7] She was re-elected after the 2019 general election. [2]
After the ANC codified its step-aside rule for public representatives facing criminal charges,Ncitha volunteered to step aside from her parliamentary seat,meaning that she would recuse herself from her party duties and would not represent the ANC in parliamentary proceedings. However,in June 2021,the Sowetan reported that Ncitha continued to chair committee meetings and participate in plenaries. [8] She remained in her parliamentary seat until after the May 2024 general election. [2]
After various delays in the proceedings, [9] Ncitha's fraud trial was ongoing in 2024. [10] She pled not guilty. [11]
The African National Congress (ANC) is a political party in South Africa. It originated as a liberation movement known for its opposition to apartheid and has governed the country since 1994,when the first post-apartheid election resulted in Nelson Mandela being elected as President of South Africa. Cyril Ramaphosa,the incumbent national President,has served as President of the ANC since 18 December 2017.
Winnie Madikizela-Mandela,also known as Winnie Mandela,was a South African anti-apartheid activist,convicted kidnapper,politician,and the second wife of Nelson Mandela. She served as a Member of Parliament from 1994 to 2003,and from 2009 until her death,and was a deputy minister of arts and culture from 1994 to 1996. A member of the African National Congress (ANC) political party,she served on the ANC's National Executive Committee and headed its Women's League. Madikizela-Mandela was known to her supporters as the "Mother of the Nation".
Raymond Mphakamisi Mhlaba OMSG was an anti-apartheid activist,Communist and leader of the African National Congress (ANC) also as well the first premier of the Eastern Cape. Mhlaba spent 25 years of his life in prison. Well known for being sentenced,along with Nelson Mandela,Govan Mbeki,Walter Sisulu and others in the Rivonia Trial,he was an active member of the ANC and the South African Communist Party (SACP) all his adult life. His kindly manner brought him the nickname "Oom Ray".
Joe Slovo was a South African politician,and an opponent of the apartheid system. A Marxist-Leninist,he was a long-time leader and theorist in the South African Communist Party (SACP),a leading member of the African National Congress (ANC),and a commander of the ANC's military wing uMkhonto we Sizwe (MK). Slovo was a delegate to the multiracial Congress of the People of June 1955 which drew up the Freedom Charter. He was imprisoned for six months in 1960,and emerged as a leader of uMkhonto we Sizwe the following year. He lived in exile from 1963 to 1990,conducting operations against the apartheid régime from the United Kingdom,Angola,Mozambique,and Zambia. In 1990,he returned to South Africa,and took part in the negotiations that ended apartheid. He became known for proposing the "sunset clauses" covering the 5 years following a democratic election,including guarantees and concessions to all sides,and his fierce non-racialist stance. After the elections of 1994,he became Minister for Housing in Nelson Mandela's government. He died of cancer in 1995.
Geraldine Joslyn Fraser-Moleketi is a South African politician who was the Minister of Public Service and Administration from June 1999 to September 2008. Before that,from July 1996 to June 1999,she was Minister of Welfare and Population Development. She represented the African National Congress (ANC) in the National Assembly from 1994 to 2008 and is a former deputy chairperson of the South African Communist Party (SACP).
Samson Gwede Mantashe is a South African politician and former trade unionist who is currently serving as the Minister of Mineral Resources and Energy,with the function of Minister of Electricity and Energy having been accorded to Kgosientsho Ramokgopa. Mantashe was Minister of Mineral Resources and Energy from May 2019 to June 2024,and Minister of Mineral Resources from February 2018 to May 2019. He is also serving his second term as the national chairperson of the African National Congress (ANC).
Godfrey Phumulo Masualle is a South African politician from the Eastern Cape who has represented the African National Congress (ANC) in the National Assembly since May 2019. He was Deputy Minister of Public Enterprises from May 2019 to March 2023,and before that he was the sixth Premier of the Eastern Cape from May 2014 to May 2019.
Zingiswa Phyllis Losi is a South African politician and trade unionist who is currently serving as the president of the Congress of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu) since September 2018. She was formerly Cosatu's second deputy president from 2009 to 2018. She is a member of the Central Committee of the South African Communist Party (SACP) and a former member of the National Executive Committee of the African National Congress (ANC).
The 2021 South African municipal elections were held on 1 November 2021,to elect councils for all district,metropolitan and local municipalities in each of the country's nine provinces. It is the sixth municipal election held in South Africa since the end of apartheid in 1994,held every five years. The previous municipal elections were held in 2016. On 21 April 2021,President Cyril Ramaphosa announced that the elections will be held on Wednesday,27 October 2021. It had been recommend by Dikgang Moseneke to delay the municipal elections until 2022. The Electoral Commission of South Africa (IEC) requested the Constitutional Court to support the date postponement. The Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) supported the date postponement while the Democratic Alliance (DA) was against the postponement of the date. The Constitutional Court dismissed the application to postpone the date until 2022,ruling that they had to take place between 27 October and 1 November. On 9 September 2021,the Minister of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs,Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma announced that the elections would be held on 1 November.
Andile Lungisa is a South African politician and the former deputy president of the African National Congress Youth League (ANCYL). Lungisa is also the former chairperson of the National Youth Development Agency (NYDA) of South Africa as well as the former President of the Pan-African Youth Union (PYU) and councillor of the ANC at the Nelson Mandela Bay Metropolitan Municipality in Port Elizabeth. He was released from prison on 1 December 2020 after serving only two months of his two-year prison sentence for assaulting an opposition councillor during a brawl in a council session.
Sindiswa Griselda Gomba is a South African politician who was the Eastern Cape MEC for Health from 2019 to 2021. She became a Member of the Eastern Cape Provincial Legislature in March 2019. Gomba is a member of the African National Congress (ANC) and previously served as a municipal councillor of the Buffalo City Metropolitan Municipality.
Skuta Alfred Mtsi was a South African politician who served as the mayor of Buffalo City,South Africa. Prior to his mayoral tenure he served as a member of the Eastern Cape Provincial Legislature and later served as the Speaker of the Buffalo City council before his death.
Eugene Johnson is a South African politician and businesswoman who has served as the speaker of the Nelson Mandela Bay Council since May 2023. She served as the Executive Mayor of the Nelson Mandela Bay Metropolitan Municipality from 2021 until 2022. She had previously served as a councillor in Nelson Mandela Bay from 2005 to 2010. Johnson is a member of the African National Congress.
Fikile Zachariah "Slovo" Majola is a South African politician and former trade unionist who is currently serving as the Deputy Minister of Trade and Industry since May 2019. He has represented the African National Congress (ANC) in the National Assembly since 2014,and before that he was the general secretary of the National Education,Health and Allied Workers' Union (Nehawu) from 1998 to 2014.
Nokuzola Gladys Tolashe,also known as Sisisi "Sisi" Tolashe,is a South African politician from the Eastern Cape. She is the current Minister of Social Development since June 2024. She was also elected as president of the African National Congress (ANC) Women's League in July 2023. In government,Tolashe was the Deputy Minister in the Presidency for Women,Youth and Persons with Disabilities from March 2023 to 30 June 2024.
Zukisa Cheryl Faku is a South African politician and convicted fraudster from the Eastern Cape. A member of the African National Congress,Faku had served as the mayor of the Buffalo City Local Municipality. In 2013 she was elected to take up a seat in the National Council of Provinces. The following year,she was elected to the National Assembly of South Africa. Faku was convicted of fraud in 2016 but remained a Member of Parliament. She resigned from parliament shortly after her re-election in 2019.
Princess Faku is a South African politician who has been mayor of the Buffalo City Metropolitan Municipality since March 2023. Prior to serving as Mayor,Faku had been a member of the National Assembly between 2019 and 2021 and was a Deputy Mayor from November 2021 to March 2023. Faku is a member of the African National Congress.
The Mayor of Buffalo City,officially the Executive Mayor of the Buffalo City Metropolitan Municipality,is the head of local government of South Africa's Buffalo City Metropolitan Municipality.
Magwaza Alfred Maphalala was a South African politician and trade unionist from KwaZulu-Natal. He represented the African National Congress (ANC) in the National Assembly from 1999 until his death in 2003. He was also a stalwart of the South African Communist Party (SACP) in KwaZulu-Natal.
Makhi Feni is a South African politician from the Eastern Cape. He has represented the African National Congress in the National Council of Provinces since June 2024. He is the chairperson of the Select Committee on Education,Sciences and Creative Industries.