Mzwanele Nyhontso is a South African politician who is the president of the

Pan Africanist Congress of Azania The Pan Africanist Congress of Azania (known as the Pan Africanist Congress (PAC)) is a South African national liberation Pan-Africanist movement that is now a political party. It was founded by an Africanist group, led by Robert Sobukwe, that ...

. He is also a member of the

National Assembly of South Africa The National Assembly is the directly elected house of the Parliament of South Africa, located in Cape Town, Western Cape. It consists of four hundred members who are elected every five years using a party-list proportional representation syste ...

PAC leadership and parliamentary career

In December 2018, Nyhontso was elected leader of the

. His leadership has been marred by infighting between factions in the party and leadership challenges. His leadership is disputed by Narius Moloto, who was elected PAC leader at a different elective congress earlier in 2018. In May 2019 Nyhontso was elected to the National Assembly as the PAC's only MP. In June 2019 he became a member of the Joint Standing Committee on Defence, the Portfolio Committee on Higher Education, Science and Technology, the Portfolio Committee on Environment, Forestry and Fisheries, the Portfolio Committee on Mineral Resources and Energy, and the Disciplinary Committee. Nyhontso was re-elected as PAC leader in September 2019, while another faction re-elected Moloto as leader in August 2019. Nyhontso was officially recognised by the Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) as the legitimate leader of the PAC, but it is still disputed by Moloto and his faction. In November 2020, Nyhontso's parliamentary membership was suspended by speaker

Thandi Modise Thandi Modise (born 25 December 1959) is a South African politician who is currently serving as the Minister of Defence and Military Veterans. She was previously the Premier of the North West from 2010 to 2014, Chairperson of the National Counci ...

after the Supreme Court of Appeal ruled that the 2019 decision by the Moloto's faction to expel him could only be set aside by a court of law. Nyhontso then approached the

Western Cape High Court The Western Cape Division of the High Court of South Africa (previously named the Cape Provincial Division and the Western Cape High Court, and commonly known as the Cape High Court) is a superior court of law with general jurisdiction over th ...

and it ordered his reinstatement as a Member of Parliament in the interim on 3 December 2020, pending a decision of the Court regarding the challenge of his recent removal by his party. In February 2021, the High Court dismissed an application by Moloto's faction for leave to appeal an interim ruling that reinstated Nyhontso as the party's single representative in the National Assembly with costs. Nyhontso's application to reinstate him as a Member of Parliament was set aside in May 2021. He then sought to appeal the ruling. On 23 June 2021, he lost his parliamentary membership again. Bennet Joko was sworn in to replace him. The North Gauteng High Court officially recognised Nyhontso as the legitimate leader of the PAC on 23 August 2021, however, the judgement was based on a technicality due to Moloto's notice of appeal of an earlier ruling not being received by the court's registrar. The court declared Moloto's election in August 2019 invalid. Nyhontso's confirmation as president allowed him to return his seat in the National Assembly and he was sworn in on 2 September 2021, replacing Joko.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Nyhontso, Mzwanele Living people Year of birth missing (living people) Place of birth missing (living people) Xhosa people Members of the National Assembly of South Africa Pan Africanist Congress of Azania politicians