Baxolile Babongile Nodada (born 2 April 1992) is a South African politician for the Democratic Alliance who has been a

Member of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members of ...

since 2019. He served as the

Shadow A shadow is a dark area where light from a light source is blocked by an opaque object. It occupies all of the three-dimensional volume behind an object with light in front of it. The cross section of a shadow is a two-dimensional silhouette, o ...

Minister of Basic Education The Minister of Basic Education is a Minister in the Cabinet of South Africa, with the responsibility of overseeing the Department of Basic Education, which is responsible for primary and secondary education. Before 10 May 2009 the portfolio for ...

and the Parliamentary Counsellor to the

Leader of the Opposition The Leader of the Opposition is a title traditionally held by the leader of the largest political party not in government, typical in countries utilizing the parliamentary system form of government. The leader of the opposition is typically se ...

John Steenhuisen John Henry Steenhuisen (born 25 March 1976) is a South African politician who has served as the leader of the Opposition since October 2019 and has been the federal leader of the Democratic Alliance since November 2020, having served as the in ...

's Shadow Cabinet from 2020 until the DA entered national government in July 2024. Nodada was Shadow Deputy Minister of Higher Education, Science and Technology in

Mmusi Maimane Mmusi Aloysias Maimane (born 6 June 1980) is a South African politician, businessman, and Leader of Build One South Africa, a political party. Maimane is also the former Leader of South Africa, South Africa's opposition Democratic Alliance (So ...

's Shadow Cabinet.

Early life and education

Nodada was born in 1992 in

Aliwal North Aliwal North (officially Maletswai) is a town in central South Africa on the banks of the Orange River, Eastern Cape Province. It is a medium-sized commercial centre in the northernmost part of the Eastern Cape. History Sir Harry Smith, then ...

in South Africa's former

Cape Province The Province of the Cape of Good Hope ( af, Provinsie Kaap die Goeie Hoop), commonly referred to as the Cape Province ( af, Kaapprovinsie) and colloquially as The Cape ( af, Die Kaap), was a province in the Union of South Africa and subsequen ...

. His parents divorced in 1993, and he then grew up with his three siblings in a family headed by his mother. He attended Hudson Park High School in

East London, Eastern Cape East London ( xh, eMonti; af, Oos-Londen) is a city on the southeast coast of South Africa in the Buffalo City Metropolitan Municipality of the Eastern Cape province. The city lies on the Indian Ocean coast, largely between the Buffalo River ...

, where he served on the Representative Council of Learners (RCL). After matriculating from the school in 2010, Nodada enrolled at the

Nelson Mandela University Nelson Mandela University (formerly known as ''Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University (NMMU)'' ) and before that - the University of Port Elizabeth (UPE), the Port Elizabeth Technikon and Vista University's Port Elizabeth campus. This South Afr ...

. He joined the Democratic Alliance's student organisation on campus and served as the first chairperson of its South Campus branch. In 2013, he was elected to the university's Student Representative Council (SRC). During his time as an SRC member, he held the positions of deputy secretary-general, culture officer, secretary-general and chief whip. He was DASO's campaign manager at the university in 2014 and 2015, respectively. In 2015, Nodada was given the SRC Member of the Year Leadership Award by the Vice Chancellor. Nodada graduated with a BA degree in political science and economics in 2014 and an honours degree in public administration and conflict in 2015.

Political career

In 2016, Nodada was elected as the youngest councillor in the

Nelson Mandela Bay Metropolitan Municipality Nelson Mandela Bay Municipality ( af, Nelson Mandelabaai Metropolitaanse Munisipaliteit; xh, uMasipala wase Nelson Mandela Bay or ''uMasipala waseBhayi'') is one of eight metropolitan municipality (South Africa), metropolitan municipalities (als ...

. He was assigned to the budget and treasury as well as economic development committees. Nodada graduated from the DA's Young Leader Programme in 2018. In 2019, Nodada stood for election to the

South African National Assembly The National Assembly is the directly elected house of the Parliament of South Africa, located in Cape Town, Western Cape. It consists of four hundred members who are elected every five years using a party-list proportional representation syste ...

as 54th on the DA's national list and 5th on the DA's regional-to-national list. At the election held on 8 May 2019, Nodada won a seat in parliament. He took his seat on 22 May. In the following days, he was appointed as Shadow Deputy Minister of Higher Education, Science and Technology by

. Maimane resigned as DA leader in October 2019 and

was elected interim party leader. Steenhuisen temporarily retained Maimane's shadow cabinet, keeping Nodada in his position. Nodada supported Steenhuisen's campaign to become party leader for a full term ahead of the DA's Federal Congress on 31 October and 1 November 2020. Following Steenhuisen's victory, Nodada was promoted to Shadow Minister of Basic Education and Parliamentary Counsellor to the Leader of the Opposition. On 11 December 2020, Nodada said that the North Gauteng High Court's decision to set aside the rewriting of two leaked matric exam papers painted a "damning picture" of the

Department of Basic Education The Department of Basic Education (DBE) is one of the departments of the South African government. It oversees primary and secondary education in South Africa. It was created in 2009 after the election of President Jacob Zuma, when the former Dep ...

's "incompetence". On 7 April 2021, Nodada became a non-voting member of the

Committee for Section 194 Enquiry The Committee for Section 194 Enquiry is an ad hoc committee of the National Assembly of South Africa that was established on 7 April 2021 to determine if there are grounds for the removal of Advocate Busisiwe Mkhwebane as Public Protector. Backg ...

, which will determine if

Busisiwe Mkhwebane Busisiwe Mkhwebane is a South African advocate, prosecutor and ombudsman, who has served as the 4th Public Protector of South Africa from 2016 to 2022. Early life and education Mkhwebane was born in Bethal in the then Transvaal province (now ...

should be removed as

Public Protector The Public Protector in South Africa is one of six independent state institutions set up by the country's Constitution to support and defend democracy. According to Section 181 of the Constitution: * These institutions are independent, and subje ...

. He became a voting member on 21 June 2021 as the committee's composition was reconstituted. On 9 March 2022, Nodada said that it should be rather be optional than mandatory for school learners to wear masks. He said: "On a risk-based approach, the current requirement is irrational. In South Africa’s current context, the negative impact of a mandatory mask policy exceeds the positive impact." Nodada was re-elected to the National Assembly in the 2024 general election. The DA entered into a coalition agreement with the

ANC The African National Congress (ANC) is a social-democratic political party in South Africa. A liberation movement known for its opposition to apartheid, it has governed the country since 1994, when the first post-apartheid election installe ...

which saw his tenure as Shadow Minister come to an end.

References

External links

*
Mr Baxolile Babongile Nodada
at

Parliament of South Africa The Parliament of the Republic of South Africa is South Africa's legislature; under the present Constitution of South Africa, the bicameral Parliament comprises a National Assembly and a National Council of Provinces. The current twenty-seve ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Nodada, Baxolile Living people 1992 births Xhosa people People from Aliwal North Nelson Mandela University alumni Democratic Alliance (South Africa) politicians Members of the National Assembly of South Africa 21st-century South African politicians