Bulelwa Tunyiswa is a South African politician who served as 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 ...

's Member of the Executive Council (MEC) for Sports, Recreation, Arts and Culture from May 2018 to May 2019. Before that, she was the Deputy Speaker of the Eastern Cape Provincial Legislature from 2010 to 2018. She lost her position on the Executive Council after the 2019 general election, when she failed to gain re-election to the provincial legislature. A member of the African National Congress (ANC), Tunyiswa has also been a member of the

Central Committee Central committee is the common designation of a standing administrative body of Communist party, communist parties, analogous to a board of directors, of both ruling and nonruling parties of former and existing socialist states. In such party org ...

of the South African Communist Party (SACP) since 2012.

Early life and career

Tunyiswa was born in 1962 in

Middledrift Ixesi (also Middeldrift or Middledrift) is a small town located north-west of East London 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 ...

in the former Cape Province. She completed an undergraduate degree from the University of the Western Cape and a Master's degree in public administration at the University of Fort Hare. A former teacher, she rose to political prominence through the

Congress of South African Trade Unions The Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU) is a trade union A trade union (labor union in American English), often simply referred to as a union, is an organization of workers intent on "maintaining or improving the conditions ...

and the affiliated South African Democratic Teachers' Union, both ANC allies.

Political career

In the 2009 general election, Tunyiswa was elected to an ANC seat in the Eastern Cape Provincial Legislature, ranked 19th on the ANC's provincial party list. The following year, she was elected Deputy Speaker of the provincial legislature, succeeding Neo Moerane; the opposition Democratic Alliance said that her election was the result of "factional politics in the Tripartite Alliance". She was re-elected to the legislature in the 2014 general election, ranked 35th on the ANC's party list, and she continued to serve as Deputy Speaker. On 10 May 2018, Tunyiswa was appointed to the Eastern Cape Executive Council by

Phumulo Masualle Phumulo Masualle is a South African politician. He was the Premier of the Eastern Cape province in South Africa, following his appointment in 2014. Masualle, member of the African National Congress (ANC) and SA Communist Party (SACP) stalwart, wa ...

, the incumbent Premier of the Eastern Cape, who made her MEC for Sports, Recreation, Arts and Culture. '' City Press'' reported that the ANC's provincial leadership, then headed by Oscar Mabuyane, had forced Masualle to effect the reshuffle. Tunyiswa served on the Executive Council for only a year: in the 2019 general election, she was ranked 51st on the ANC's party list and failed to gain re-election to the provincial legislature. After her departure from the legislature, Tunyiswa continued to serve on the Central Committee of the SACP: she was elected to her third five-year term on the committee in 2022.

References

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* {{DEFAULTSORT:Tunyiswa, Bulelwa African National Congress politicians Living people Members of the Eastern Cape Provincial Legislature 21st-century South African politicians University of Fort Hare alumni University of the Western Cape alumni Members of the South African Communist Party 1962 births People from Raymond Mhlaba Local Municipality