Albertina Nomathuli Luthuli (born 14 March 1932) is a South African politician and medical doctor who represented the African National Congress (ANC) in the National Assembly from 2004 to 2011. Before that, she served in the

KwaZulu-Natal Provincial Legislature 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 ...

. She is the eldest daughter of ANC stalwart

Albert Luthuli Albert John Mvumbi Luthuli ( – 21 July 1967) was a South African anti-apartheid activist, traditional leader, and politician who served as the President-General of the African National Congress from 1952 until his death in 1967. Luthuli wa ...

Early life and career

Luthuli was born on 14 March 1932 in

Groutville Groutville is a town in Ilembe District Municipality in the KwaZulu-Natal province of South Africa. Home of the late ANC leader, Chief Albert Luthuli, Home to the late RT Rev j. Mdelwa Hlongwane founder to The Bantu Methodist Church. Mission s ...

in the former

Natal Province The Province of Natal (), commonly called Natal, was a province of South Africa from May 1910 until May 1994. Its capital was Pietermaritzburg. During this period rural areas inhabited by the black African population of Natal were organized into ...

. She was the second of seven children born to

, an ANC stalwart and ultimately a Nobel Peace Prize Laureate who died when he was struck by a train in 1967. She attended Adams College and matriculated at St Francis College before enrolling at the University of Natal, where she completed an MBChB. From 1971 to 1991, during the height of apartheid, she lived in exile in Lesotho, Zimbabwe, and the United Kingdom. When she returned to South Africa in 1991, she opened a medical practice in Natal.

Post-apartheid political career

After the end of apartheid in 1994, Luthuli represented the ANC in the

. On 2 April 2001, she was sworn in to the National Assembly to fill a casual vacancy in the ANC's

KwaZulu-Natal KwaZulu-Natal (, also referred to as KZN and known as "the garden province") is a province of South Africa that was created in 1994 when the Zulu bantustan of KwaZulu ("Place of the Zulu" in Zulu) and Natal Province were merged. It is locate ...

caucus. In the 2004 general election, she was elected to a full term in the seat. She was re-elected in

2009 File:2009 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The vertical stabilizer of Air France Flight 447 is pulled out from the Atlantic Ocean; Barack Obama becomes the first African American to become President of the United States; 2009 Iran ...

but resigned on 1 May 2011; her seat was filled by Duduzile Sibiya.

Retirement

Luthuli lives in her hometown of Groutville. In 2016, she was publicly critical of President

Jacob Zuma Jacob Gedleyihlekisa Zuma (; born 12 April 1942) is a South African politician who served as the fourth president of South Africa from 2009 to 2018. He is also referred to by his initials JZ and clan name Msholozi, and was a former anti-aparth ...

; she was one of 100 ANC stalwarts who signed an open letter calling for reform in the ANC and she attended several civil society events which protested against decisions of Zuma's administration. She has also called publicly for another inquest into the circumstances of her father's death.

References

African National Congress politicians Members of the National Assembly of South Africa 21st-century South African politicians 21st-century South African women politicians Living people {{DEFAULTSORT:Luthuli, Albertina 20th-century South African women politicians 20th-century South African politicians People from KwaDukuza Local Municipality 1932 births University of Natal alumni Members of the KwaZulu-Natal Legislature Women members of the National Assembly of South Africa