Bongiwe Nomusa Sithole-Moloi () is a South African politician who served as

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 ...

Member of the Executive Council In South Africa, the Executive Council of a province is the cabinet of the provincial government. The Executive Council consists of the Premier and five to ten other members,''Constitution of the Republic of South Africa, 1996'', Chapter 6: "Pro ...

(MEC) for Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs from February 2023 until June 2024. She represented the

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

(ANC) 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 2014 until May 2024. 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 uMgungundlovu is one of the 11 district municipalities ("districts") of KwaZulu-Natal province. The seat of uMgungundlovu is Pietermaritzburg. The majority of its 1 million+ residents speak Zulu (2001 Census). The district code is DC22 Geogra ...

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

Sithole-Moloi became active in the ANC in the

Natal Midlands The KwaZulu-Natal midlands is an inland area of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa that starts from Pietermaritzburg and ends before the Drakensberg mountain range. Area There are several small towns located in the midlands, including: Pietermaritzburg, ...

in the early 1990s, and she represented the party as the

Mayor In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilities of a mayor as well a ...

of Umgungundlovu between 2000 and 2008. She was removed from the mayoral office by her own party in a

vote of no-confidence A motion of no confidence, also variously called a vote of no confidence, no-confidence motion, motion of confidence, or vote of confidence, is a statement or vote about whether a person in a position of responsibility like in government or mana ...

in 2008. Her removal was reportedly related to allegations of

corruption Corruption is a form of dishonesty or a criminal offense which is undertaken by a person or an organization which is entrusted in a position of authority, in order to acquire illicit benefits or abuse power for one's personal gain. Corruption m ...

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. The allegations were never tested in court and Sithole-Moloi denied them. 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 The Inkatha Freedom Party ( zu, IQembu leNkatha yeNkululeko, IFP) is a right-wing political party in South Africa. The party has been led by Velenkosini Hlabisa since the party's 2019 National General Conference. Mangosuthu Buthelezi founded t ...

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.

Provincial legislature: 2014–present

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 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 ...

. The ANC caucus elected her to chair the legislature's committee for the

Premier Premier is a title for the head of government in central governments, state governments and local governments of some countries. A second in command to a premier is designated as a deputy premier. A premier will normally be a head of governm ...

's office and Zulu royal household. In May 2016, she was appointed to the KwaZulu-Natal Executive Council in a cabinet reshuffle by

Willies Mchunu Willies Mchunu (born 11 May 1948) was the 7th Premier of KwaZulu-Natal province in South Africa. He was previously a Member of the Executive Council (MEC) for the Department of Transport, Community Safety, and Liaison in the province. He is a memb ...

, who had recently taken office as Premier; she was named MEC for Arts, Culture, Sports and Recreation. Sources told

IOL Cherchell (Arabic: شرشال) is a town on Algeria's Mediterranean coast, west of Algiers. It is the seat of Cherchell District in Tipaza Province. Under the names Iol and Caesarea, it was formerly a Roman colony and the capital of the kin ...

that Sithole-Moloi owed the promotion to her loyalty to

Sihle Zikalala Sihle Zikalala (born 6 August 1973) is a South African politician from KwaZulu-Natal who has been a Member of the National Assembly of South Africa since 2023, representing the African National Congress. Before his redeployment to the National P ...

, 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 Edward Senzo Mchunu (born 21 April 1958) is a South African politician currently serving as Minister of Water and Sanitation. He served as Minister of Public Service and Administration from 2019 to 2021. He previously served as Premier of KwaZul ...

, her former ally and Zikalala's rival and predecessor. 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. Newly elected Premier Sihle Zikalala appointed her as MEC for Agriculture and Rural Development. She was retained in that position by Zikalala's successor, Premier

Nomusa Dube-Ncube Nomusa Dube-Ncube is a South African politician and former diplomat who has been the 9th Premier of KwaZulu-Natal since August 2022. A member of the African National Congress, she is the first woman to hold the office. Previously, she served as ...

. 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 The African National Congress Women's League (ANCWL) is an auxiliary women's political organization of the African National Congress, African National Congress (ANC) of South Africa. This organization has its precedent in the Bantu Women's League ...

and by local party branches in Zululand. 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 to the ANC's Provincial Executive Committee. 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. Sithole-Moloi left the provincial legislature and the provincial government in 2024.

Personal life

Sithole-Moloi was divorced from

Inkosi Inkosi, otherwise appearing as Nkosi, is the Zulu and Xhosa for chieftain in Southern Africa. Inkosikazi is the equivalent term for a chieftess. An inkosi that has authority over several subordinate inkosis is traditionally referred to as an In ...

Zibuse Mlaba, an ANC politician and the former KwaXimba regent. 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. 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.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Sithole-Moloi, Bongi Year of birth missing (living people) Living people African National Congress politicians Mayors of places in South Africa Women mayors of places in South Africa 21st-century South African women politicians 20th-century South African women politicians Members of the KwaZulu-Natal Legislature