Belinda Francis Scott (born 17 February 1964), formerly Belinda Barrett, is a South African politician who was

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 ...

's Member of the Executive Council (MEC) for Finance from 2014 to 2019. She served several terms 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 ...

from 1994 to 2019, representing the African National Congress (ANC) from 2002 onwards after defecting from both the

Democratic Party Democratic Party most often refers to: *Democratic Party (United States) Democratic Party and similar terms may also refer to: Active parties Africa *Botswana Democratic Party *Democratic Party of Equatorial Guinea *Gabonese Democratic Party *Demo ...

and the Inkatha Freedom Party. After she left the provincial legislature in 2019, she served as Deputy

Mayor of eThekwini eThekwini may refer to: * Durban, South Africa, in the Zulu language, from itheku meaning "Ocean & bay lagoon * eThekwini Metropolitan Municipality eThekwini Metropolitan Municipality is a metropolitan municipality created in 2000, that incl ...

from September 2019 until she resigned from politics in February 2021.

KwaZulu-Natal Legislature: 1994–2019

Born on 17 February 1964, Scott entered politics through

Mangosuthu Buthelezi Prince Mangosuthu Gatsha Buthelezi (born 27 August 1928) is a South African politician and Zulu traditional leader who is currently a Member of Parliament and the traditional prime minister to the Zulu royal family. He was Chief Minister of the ...

's Inkatha: in the 1980s, she was a researcher at the Inkatha Institute and then became a speechwriter for Buthelezi. Reportedly a close associate of Walter Felgate, she stood as a candidate in the 1994 general election, South Africa's first after apartheid, on the

party list An electoral list is a grouping of candidates for election, usually found in proportional or mixed electoral systems, but also in some plurality electoral systems. An electoral list can be registered by a political party (a party list) or can ...

for Inkatha, by then renamed the Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP). In 1999, she defected to the

(DP), saying that she was "disillusioned with corruption in Inkatha". She remained in the provincial legislature and became the only female member of the DP's 15-member federal executive committee. By 2002, Scott was the DP's

Chief Whip The Chief Whip is a political leader whose task is to enforce the whipping system, which aims to ensure that legislators who are members of a political party attend and vote on legislation as the party leadership prescribes. United Kingdom ...

in the provincial legislature. In June of that year, during the legislature's

floor-crossing In parliamentary systems, politicians are said to cross the floor if they formally change their political affiliation to a different political party than which they were initially elected under (as is the case in Canada and the United Kingdom). ...

period, she defected from the DP to the African National Congress (ANC). Scott continued to represent the ANC. She was elected to her final term in the provincial legislature in the 2014 general election, ranked 22nd on the ANC's provincial party list. After the election, Premier Senzo Mchunu appointed her to the KwaZulu-Natal Executive Council as Member of the Executive Council (MEC) for Finance. She retained that portfolio until the

next general election This is a list of the next general elections around the world in democratic polities. The general elections listed are for the government of each jurisdiction. These elections determine the Prime Minister and makeup of the legislature in a parli ...

in 2019, when she did not stand for re-election and resigned from the provincial legislature.

Deputy Mayor of eThekwini: 2019–2021

Her resignation from the provincial legislature notwithstanding, Scott was appointed to a new position later in 2019 when, in August, the provincial ANC announced that she would be nominated as the party's candidate to serve as Deputy

. She was officially elected to the position on 5 September 2019. She was sent to the eThekwini council as part of a corps of cadres – also including new Mayor Mxolisi Kaunda, new Speaker Weziwe Thusi, and new Chief Whip Sibongiseni Mkhize – that the ANC said would help improve service delivery in the province after the former mayor, Zandile Gumede, had been judged by the party to be unfit for office. On 17 February 2021, after prior unconfirmed reports to the same effect, Scott announced that she would resign from the council in order to pursue a

PhD PHD or PhD may refer to: * Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), an academic qualification Entertainment * '' PhD: Phantasy Degree'', a Korean comic series * ''Piled Higher and Deeper'', a web comic * Ph.D. (band), a 1980s British group ** Ph.D. (Ph.D. albu ...

and a career in the private sector. She joined the private sector in March.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Scott, Belinda Living people 1964 births Members of the KwaZulu-Natal Legislature African National Congress politicians Democratic Party (South Africa) politicians Inkatha Freedom Party politicians 21st-century South African politicians 20th-century South African politicians 21st-century South African women politicians 20th-century South African women politicians