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Bongi Sithole-Moloi

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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.

Bongi Sithole-Moloi
Member of the KwaZulu-Natal Executive Council for Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs
In office
7 February 2023 – 14 June 2024
PremierNomusa Dube-Ncube
Preceded bySihle Zikalala
Succeeded byThulasizwe Buthelezi
Member of the KwaZulu-Natal Provincial Legislature
In office
21 May 2014 – 28 May 2024
Member of the KwaZulu-Natal Executive Council for Agriculture and Rural Development
In office
May 2019 – 6 February 2023
Premier
  • Sihle Zikalala
  • Nomusa Dube-Ncube
Preceded byThemba Mthembu
Succeeded bySuper Zuma
Member of the KwaZulu-Natal Executive Council for Arts, Culture, Sports and Recreation
In office
May 2016 – May 2019
PremierWillies Mchunu
Preceded byNtombikayise Sibhidla-Saphetha
Succeeded byHlengiwe Mavimbela
Executive Mayor of uMgungundlovu District Municipality
In office
December 2000 – March 2008
Preceded byMunicipality established
Succeeded byYusuf Bhamjee
Personal details
Born
Bongiwe Nomusa Sithole
CitizenshipSouth Africa
Political partyAfrican National Congress
Spouse(s)
​
(divorced)​

Lucky Moloi

Sithole-Moloi was a member of the KwaZulu-Natal Executive Council from 2016 until 2024. Before being appointed as the MEC for Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs, she was the MEC for Arts, Culture, Sports and Recreation from 2016 to 2019 and MEC for Agriculture and Rural Development from 2019 to 2023. She gained political prominence as the Mayor of Umgungundlovu District Municipality from 2000 to 2008; she was removed from that position in a vote of no-confidence supported by her own party.

Mayor of Umgungundlovu: 2000–2008

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Sithole-Moloi became active in the ANC in the Natal Midlands in the early 1990s,[1][2] and she represented the party as the Mayor of Umgungundlovu between 2000 and 2008. She was removed from the mayoral office by her own party in a vote of no-confidence in 2008. Her removal was reportedly related to allegations of corruption and maladministration, including the accusation that R1.5 million in municipal funds had been misappropriated and channelled to businessman Lucky Moloi, whom she later married.[3][4] The allegations were never tested in court and Sithole-Moloi denied them.[4]

In 2009, Sithole-Moloi was appointed head of the directorate for dispute resolution in the provincial Department of Local Government, then under MEC Mike Mabuyakhulu. The opposition Inkatha Freedom Party alleged that her appointment had been "riddled with irregularities" and that the department appeared to have created the post for Sithole-Moloi. The provincial government denied this charge, saying that Sithole-Moloi had applied for the post after the vacancy was advertised publicly.[5][6]

Provincial legislature: 2014–present

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In the 2014 general election, Sithole-Moloi was elected to a seat in the KwaZulu-Natal Provincial Legislature, ranked 29th on the ANC's provincial party list.[7] The ANC caucus elected her to chair the legislature's committee for the Premier's office and Zulu royal household.[4] In May 2016, she was appointed to the KwaZulu-Natal Executive Council in a cabinet reshuffle by Willies Mchunu, who had recently taken office as Premier; she was named MEC for Arts, Culture, Sports and Recreation.[8] Sources told IOL that Sithole-Moloi owed the promotion to her loyalty to Sihle Zikalala, then the ANC's Provincial Chairperson in KwaZulu-Natal; Sithole-Moloi had apparently begun to support Zikalala after 2008, when her removal from the mayoral office strained her relationship with Senzo Mchunu, her former ally and Zikalala's rival and predecessor.[3]

She remained in office as MEC for Arts and Culture until the 2019 general election, in which she was re-elected to her legislative seat, ranked 30th on the ANC's party list.[7] Newly elected Premier Sihle Zikalala appointed her as MEC for Agriculture and Rural Development.[9] She was retained in that position by Zikalala's successor, Premier Nomusa Dube-Ncube.[10]

In 2022, Sithole-Moloi was named as a possible candidate for election to a top leadership position in the provincial ANC. She was nominated to stand for the position of ANC Deputy Provincial Secretary by the KwaZulu-Natal branch of the ANC Women's League[11] and by local party branches in Zululand.[2] When the party's next provincial elective conference was held in July 2022, she was not elected to a top position but was re-elected[12] to the ANC's Provincial Executive Committee.[13]

On 7 February 2023, following Sihle Zikalala's resignation from the provincial legislature, Premier Dube-Ncube effected a minor cabinet reshuffle in which Sithole-Moloi replaced Zikalala as MEC for Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs.[14][15] Sithole-Moloi left the provincial legislature and the provincial government in 2024.

Personal life

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Sithole-Moloi was divorced from Inkosi Zibuse Mlaba, an ANC politician and the former KwaXimba regent.[16] She subsequently married businessman and politician Lucky Moloi, who is a former Regional Secretary and Regional Chairperson of the ANC's Inkosi Bhambatha branch in Umzinyathi.[16][17] Moloi held the regional chairmanship from 2019 to 2022, having won election in a contest against Jomo Sibiya, his wife's colleague in the provincial legislature.[18]

References

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  1. ^ Govender, Karen (27 May 2019). "KZN DARD welcomes MEC Bongi Sithole-Moloi". KZN Department of Agriculture and Rural Development. Retrieved 26 January 2023.
  2. ^ a b Phungula, Willem (14 July 2022). "Another MEC nominated for KZN ANC top five position". IOL. Retrieved 26 January 2023.
  3. ^ a b Zungu, Lungani (12 June 2016). "Fired mayor now MEC". IOL. Retrieved 26 January 2023.
  4. ^ a b c Ngqulunga, Thobani (3 June 2014). "Axed mayor returns". Witness. Retrieved 26 January 2023.
  5. ^ "Broke Bongi gets new Local Govt job". Witness. 12 April 2009. Retrieved 26 January 2023.
  6. ^ "MEC under fire for hiring ex-mayor". Sowetan. 15 April 2009. Retrieved 26 January 2023.
  7. ^ a b "Bongiwe Nomusa Sithole". People's Assembly. Retrieved 26 January 2023.
  8. ^ Harper, Paddy (6 June 2016). "4 MECs gone in KZN cabinet 'purge'". City Press. Retrieved 8 January 2023.
  9. ^ "Premier Sihle Zikalala announces his KZN cabinet". News24. 27 May 2019. Retrieved 8 January 2023.
  10. ^ "Premier Nomusa Dube-Ncube: Introduction of the new members of the KwaZulu-Natal Provincial Executive Council". South African Government. 11 August 2022. Retrieved 8 January 2023.
  11. ^ "KZN ANC Women's League supports Nomusa Dube-Ncube for chairperson". Polity. 25 January 2022. Retrieved 26 January 2023.
  12. ^ "8th Regional Elective Conference: ANC calls for unity in Musa Dladla". The Citizen. 14 May 2022. Retrieved 26 January 2023.
  13. ^ "Ex-chair Sihle Zikalala fails to make it into ANC KZN provincial executive committee". Sowetan. 25 July 2022. Retrieved 26 January 2023.
  14. ^ Mavuso, Sihle (7 February 2023). "Former KZN ANC Provincial secretary Super Zuma gets cabinet post in provincial reshuffle". IOL. Retrieved 7 February 2023.
  15. ^ "KZN cabinet reshuffle sees Super Zuma take up agriculture". Sunday Times. 7 February 2023. Retrieved 7 February 2023.
  16. ^ a b Oliphant, Nathi (16 March 2014). "Keeping it in the family". Sunday Tribune. Retrieved 8 January 2023 – via PressReader.
  17. ^ Naidoo, Nalini (12 December 2011). "Lucky Moloi elected secretary in new Bhambatha leadership". Witness. Retrieved 26 January 2023.
  18. ^ Mavuso, Sihle (22 May 2022). "MEC's husband ousted as Ramaphosa allies claim last KZN ANC regional conference". IOL. Retrieved 26 January 2023.
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