Maliyakhe Lymon Shelembe is a South African politician. Shelembe was an Inkatha Freedom Party member until 2011. He was elected to the National Assembly in 2014 as a member of the

National Freedom Party The National Freedom Party (NFP) is a South African political party. It was launched on 25 January 2011 by Zanele kaMagwaza-Msibi, former chairperson of the Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP), along with other former IFP members. Election results ...

. Shelembe became a Democratic Alliance MP after the 2019 elections.

Political career

He was elected as a ward councillor for the Inkatha Freedom Party in 2001. Later that year, he was elected Deputy Mayor of the

Umtshezi Local Municipality Umtshezi Local Municipality was an administrative area in the Uthukela District of KwaZulu-Natal in South Africa. uMtshezi is an isiZulu name word for Bushman or San. The name uMtshezi refers to the Bushman River. After municipal elections on 3 ...

. He eventually became mayor of the municipality. The African National Congress won control of the municipality in 2004 and Shelembe became an ordinary council member. In 2007, he returned to the position of mayor. In 2011, he joined the newly created

and was elected as deputy mayor of the

Uthukela District Municipality uThukela is one of the 11 districts of the KwaZulu-Natal province of South Africa. The seat of uThukela is the city of Ladysmith. The majority of its 668,848 people speak IsiZulu (2011 Census). The district code is DC23. Geography Neighbours uT ...

after that year's municipal elections. He was elected the party's national chairperson in December 2011. Shelembe was elected to the National Assembly in 2014. In March 2019, he became a member of the Democratic Alliance and returned to parliament after the general elections in May that year. In June 2019, he was appointed as shadow deputy minister of Defence and Military Veterans. Shelembe remained in the position following

John Steenhuisen John Henry Steenhuisen (born 25 March 1976) is a South African politician who has served as the leader of the Opposition since October 2019 and has been the federal leader of the Democratic Alliance since November 2020, having served as the in ...

's election as parliamentary leader. Shelembe was re-elected to the National Assembly in the 2024 general election.

References

External links

National Assembly profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Shelembe, Maliyake Living people Year of birth missing (living people) Zulu people Members of the National Assembly of South Africa Democratic Alliance (South Africa) politicians Inkatha Freedom Party politicians Mayors of places in South Africa National Freedom Party politicians