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Nyiko Floyd Shivambu (born 1 January 1983) is a South African politician serving as a member of parliament for the
Economic Freedom Fighters The Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) is a South African left-wing to far-left pan-Africanist and Marxist–Leninist political party. It was founded by expelled former African National Congress Youth League (ANCYL) President Julius Malema, and hi ...
. He was born in
Malamulele Malamulele can refer to the town of Malamulele or the area of Malamulele. Both the town (approximately in the center of the area) and area are in the Limpopo province of South Africa and predominantly occupied by Tsonga people. Malamulele town h ...
,
Limpopo Limpopo is the northernmost province of South Africa. It is named after the Limpopo River, which forms the province's western and northern borders. The capital and largest city in the province is Polokwane, while the provincial legislature is ...
. He is the Deputy President and lieutenant commander-in-chief of the Economic Freedom Fighters, its Parliamentary Chief Whip in the
South African Parliament 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 ...
, who serves in the Trade and Industry Portfolio Committee and the Standing Committee on Finance. Shivambu is also a Member of the Pan African Parliament, serving in the Rural Economy, Agriculture, Natural Resources and Environment Committee.


Early life

Shivambu was born in the rural village of Mahonisi, Malamulele town in the
Limpopo Limpopo is the northernmost province of South Africa. It is named after the Limpopo River, which forms the province's western and northern borders. The capital and largest city in the province is Polokwane, while the provincial legislature is ...
province South Africa. He was one of seven children. He grew up in a house without running water nor electricity. His parents earned a living as informal traders selling hand made duvets and pillowcases in nearby towns. Shivambu graduated from the Mphambo High School in Malamulele in 2001, and went on to study at the
University of the Witwatersrand The University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg (), is a multi-campus South African Public university, public research university situated in the northern areas of central Johannesburg. It is more commonly known as Wits University or Wits ( o ...
in
Johannesburg Johannesburg ( , , ; Zulu and xh, eGoli ), colloquially known as Jozi, Joburg, or "The City of Gold", is the largest city in South Africa, classified as a megacity, and is one of the 100 largest urban areas in the world. According to Demo ...
initially intending to study to become a technician. He changed academic focus and instead earned a bachelor's degree as well as an honours Degree in Political Studies and International Relations. Shivambu went on to graduate with a master's degree, with distinction, in political studies in 2014. In his third year at the University of the Witwatersrand, Shivambu was elected president of the university's Student Representative Body and joined the
African National Congress Youth League The African National Congress Youth League (ANCYL) is the youth wing of the African National Congress (ANC). As set out in its constitution, the ANC Youth League is led by a National Executive Committee (NEC) and a National Working Committee (NW ...
. On 6 February 2018, he announced that he has been accepted by the Wits School of Governance to pursue a doctoral degree with his thesis focused on SA's transformation policies, legislation and practices: ownership and control of JSE-listed companies.


Political career

*Member of Parliament for the EFF (2014–present) *Member of the
Pan-African Parliament The Pan-African Parliament (PAP), also known as the African Parliament, is the legislative body of the African Union. It held its inaugural session in March 2004. The Parliament exercises oversight, and has advisory and consultative powers, ha ...
(2014-2018) *Spokesperson of African National Congress Youth League (2008–2012) *Board Member of the National Student Financial Aid Scheme (2008–2012) *Students Representative of Joint Initiative for Priority Skills Acquisition (2006–2007) *Student Representative Council president at
University of Witwatersrand The University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg (), is a multi-campus South African public research university situated in the northern areas of central Johannesburg. It is more commonly known as Wits University or Wits ( or ). The university ...
(2004–2005) *National Executive of
South African Students Congress The South African Students Congress (SASCO) is a South African student organisation currently led by Bamanye Matiwane as the organization's President. SASCO was founded in September 1991 at Rhodes University in Grahamstown, Eastern Cape, through ...
Shivambu is the Deputy President in the
Economic Freedom Fighters The Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) is a South African left-wing to far-left pan-Africanist and Marxist–Leninist political party. It was founded by expelled former African National Congress Youth League (ANCYL) President Julius Malema, and hi ...
(2013–present) and responsible for Policy, Research, and International Relations. Since their days in the African National Congress Youth League, Shivambu and
Julius Malema Julius Sello Malema (born 3 March 1981) is a South African politician and activist who is a Member of Parliament and the leader of the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF), a left-wing party which he founded in 2013. He was formerly the President of ...
have appeared as close political allies. Following both their suspension from the African National Congress, Floyd Shivambu co-founded the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF), alongside Julius Malema. In 2014, he co-edited a book about Julius Malema, entitled ''The Coming Revolution: Julius Malema and the Fight for Economic Freedom''.


Controversies

In 2011, Shivambu was ousted from his position as ANC Youth League spokesman by an ANC disciplinary hearing, after he swore at a journalist, and after making comments about helping to bring about
regime change Regime change is the partly forcible or coercive replacement of one government regime with another. Regime change may replace all or part of the state's most critical leadership system, administrative apparatus, or bureaucracy. Regime change may ...
in
Botswana Botswana (, ), officially the Republic of Botswana ( tn, Lefatshe la Botswana, label=Setswana, ), is a landlocked country in Southern Africa. Botswana is topographically flat, with approximately 70 percent of its territory being the Kalahar ...
. On 17 August 2018, Shivambu was arrested for speeding. He was caught driving at 182 km/h in 120 km/h zone, and subsequently released on bail.


Assault of journalist

On 20 March 2018, Shivambu was filmed attacking a journalist outside Parliament and was scheduled to stand trial for assault in February 2021. This hearing was subsequently postponed until September 2021.


Paternity scandal

In 2015, Shivambu was involved in a heavily publicised paternity scandal. After initially denying that he had fathered a child with his former girlfriend, Andile Masuku, he later acknowledged the child was his son following a paternity test. In November 2015, he claimed he could not afford the R5000 monthly maintenance.


Racial prejudice

Shivambu was criticised for demanding to know why treasury official
Ismail Momoniat Ishmael ''Ismaḗl''; Classical/Qur'anic Arabic: إِسْمَٰعِيْل; Modern Standard Arabic: إِسْمَاعِيْل ''ʾIsmāʿīl''; la, Ismael was the first son of Abraham, the common patriarch of the Abrahamic religions; and is cons ...
, who is of
South African Indian Indian South Africans are South Africans who descend from indentured labourers and free migrants who arrived from British India during the late 1800s and early 1900s. The majority live in and around the city of Durban, making it one of the l ...
ancestry, was presenting so often to parliament instead of a black
National Treasury A treasury is either *A government department related to finance and taxation, a finance ministry. *A place or location where treasure, such as currency or precious items are kept. These can be state or royal property, church treasure or in ...
official, stating that Momoniat's presence "undermines African leadership". This led to widespread condemnation of Shivambu by other politicians and on social media for both questing Momoniat's role in the anti-apartheid movement and for being racially prejudiced. Four months later, the
Daily Maverick ''Daily Maverick'' is a South African daily online publication and weekly print newspaper, with offices in Cape Town and Johannesburg. Its readership is spread across South Africa and the world, with approximately 8 million readers per month. I ...
stated that a likely reason for Shivambu's statements about Momoniat was because he was part of a group of treasury officials investigating the collapse of
VBS Mutual Bank VBS Mutual Bank was a South African mutual bank. In 2018 it was declared insolvent and bankrupt and placed under curatorship, with South African citizens and taxpayers defrauded out of roughly R2 billion. It was formed as Venda Building Soc ...
which allegedly involved Shivambu and his brother Brian Shivambu.


VBS Bank

A report published by the
South African Reserve Bank The South African Reserve Bank (SARB) is the central bank of South Africa. It was established in 1921 after Parliament passed an act, the "Currency and Bank Act of 10 August 1920", as a direct result of the abnormal monetary and financial condit ...
in October 2018 indicated that Shivambu's brother, Brian Shivambu, was the recipient of R16,148,569 (US$1.09 million) in irregular payments from the now collapsed bank
VBS Mutual Bank VBS Mutual Bank was a South African mutual bank. In 2018 it was declared insolvent and bankrupt and placed under curatorship, with South African citizens and taxpayers defrauded out of roughly R2 billion. It was formed as Venda Building Soc ...
. Further investigative reporting by Pauli Van Wyk with considerable substantiating evidence alleged that R1.3 million of this money was then paid to the EFF and R10 million given to Floyd Shivambu himself. Shivambu has since asked that anyone who has evidence he had dealings with VBS must come forward. During this period the
Mail & Guardian The ''Mail & Guardian'' is a South African weekly newspaper and website, published by M&G Media in Johannesburg, South Africa. It focuses on political analysis, investigative reporting, Southern African news, local arts, music and popular cultu ...
newspaper published an article based on
WhatsApp WhatsApp (also called WhatsApp Messenger) is an internationally available freeware, cross-platform, centralized instant messaging (IM) and voice-over-IP (VoIP) service owned by American company Meta Platforms (formerly Facebook). It allows us ...
texts leaked by a
whistleblower A whistleblower (also written as whistle-blower or whistle blower) is a person, often an employee, who reveals information about activity within a private or public organization that is deemed illegal, immoral, illicit, unsafe or fraudulent. Whi ...
alleging that Shivambu's brother's company was a conduit for Shivambu to receive illicit payments. Ongoing forensic financial investigations indicate that at least R1.84-million illicitly flowed from VBS Mutual Bank, via two
front companies A front organization is any entity set up by and controlled by another organization, such as intelligence agencies, organized crime groups, terrorist organizations, secret societies, banned organizations, religious or political groups, advocacy gro ...
, into Shivambu’s personal bank account.


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Shivambu, Floyd 1982 births Economic Freedom Fighters politicians Living people People from Limpopo South African politicians Members of the National Assembly of South Africa