Nkosinathi Benson Fihla (born 13 June 1932) is a South African politician and former anti-apartheid activist who represented the
African National Congress (ANC) in the
National Assembly from 1994 to 2013. He subsequently served as
Mayor of the Nelson Mandela Bay Metropolitan Municipality from March 2013 until May 2015. Fihla first joined the ANC in 1954 through its
Youth League and he was imprisoned on
Robben Island from 1964 to 1978 for his work with
Umkhonto we Sizwe.
Early life and activism
Fihla was born on 13 June 1932 in
Port Elizabeth
Gqeberha (), formerly Port Elizabeth and colloquially often referred to as P.E., is a major seaport and the most populous city in the Eastern Cape province of South Africa. It is the seat of the Nelson Mandela Bay Metropolitan Municipality, Sou ...
in the former
Cape Province.
After finishing grade ten, he completed a teaching diploma at
Lovedale in 1952; he also briefly attended
Healdtown
Healdtown is a hamlet located 10 km north-east of Fort Beaufort in the Eastern Cape province of South Africa. It is situated in Raymond Mhlaba Municipality in Amathole District in an area that was formerly part of the Ciskei. Nelson Mandela ...
in 1953. While at Lovedale he attended political study groups run by students at the nearby
University of Fort Hare, an ANC stronghold, and he joined the
ANC Youth League in 1954.
From 1954 to 1963, Fihla worked as a cleaner at
Barclays Bank in Port Elizabeth. During that time, in 1961, he joined the
South African Communist Party and
Umkhonto we Sizwe (MK), both of which were banned by the
apartheid government.
In 1963, he was found carrying firearms and arrested, and in 1964 he was sentenced to 14 years' imprisonment on
Robben Island. While in prison, he completed high school and did correspondence courses through the
University of South Africa.
He was released in 1978 and continued to do underground work for MK, while working as an insurance salesman and manager at
Metropolitan Life. He was detained again for his political activity in the 1980s. In 1990, after the ANC was unbanned by the government, Fihla chaired the party's new above-ground branch in the
Eastern Cape
The Eastern Cape is one of the provinces of South Africa. Its capital is Bhisho, but its two largest cities are East London and Gqeberha.
The second largest province in the country (at 168,966 km2) after Northern Cape, it was formed in ...
.
Post-apartheid political career
In South Africa's
first post-apartheid elections in 1994, Fihla was elected to represent the ANC in the
National Assembly, the lower house of the new
South African Parliament.
He served as a backbencher in the National Assembly for almost four legislative terms, representing the
Eastern Cape constituency.
He resigned from Parliament on 22 March 2013 when he was elected as Executive Mayor of
Nelson Mandela Bay Metropolitan Municipality.
In May 2015, the ANC announced that Fihla would resign in order to cede the mayoral office to
Danny Jordaan ahead of the
2016 local elections. Later that year, he was appointed as a special adviser to
Phumulo Masualle, the
Premier of the Eastern Cape.
References
External links
*
2006 video interview
African National Congress politicians
Members of the National Assembly of South Africa
21st-century South African politicians
20th-century South African politicians
Living people
Inmates of Robben Island
1932 births
Politicians from Port Elizabeth
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