Narend Singh (born 5 September 1954) is a South African politician who is the chief whip of the

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 ...

in the

National Assembly In politics, a national assembly is either a unicameral legislature, the lower house of a bicameral legislature, or both houses of a bicameral legislature together. In the English language it generally means "an assembly composed of the repre ...

and the treasurer-general of the party. Prior to joining the National Assembly in 2007, he was a Member of the Executive Council in the KwaZulu-Natal provincial government from 1997 until 2006 and a member of the

Senate A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...

from 1994 to 1996.

Early life and education

Singh was born on 5 September 1954 in Umkomaas,

Natal Province The Province of Natal (), commonly called Natal, was a province of South Africa from May 1910 until May 1994. Its capital was Pietermaritzburg. During this period rural areas inhabited by the black African population of Natal were organized into ...

. He attended Umkomaas Drift Primary and Naidoo Memorial School. In 1971, he started studying towards a Bachelor of Commerce degree from the University of Durban-Westville. He left the university in 1974 to help out at a family business. Singh later completed a postgraduate diploma in Economic Principles from the

University of London The University of London (UoL; abbreviated as Lond or more rarely Londin in post-nominals) is a federal public research university located in London, England, United Kingdom. The university was established by royal charter in 1836 as a degree ...

in 1997. In 2003, he obtained a master's degree in public policy and administration from the university. In 2019, he received a postgraduate diploma in public policy and African studies from the

University of Johannesburg The University of Johannesburg (UJ) is a public university located in Johannesburg, South Africa. The University of Johannesburg came into existence on 1 January 2005 as the result of a merger between the Rand Afrikaans University (RAU), the Te ...

Political career

In 1988, Singh was recruited by community members to contest the 1989 House of Delegates election in the Umzinto constituency. He went on to contest the election as a member of the Solidarity Party and won easily. Singh received 5,024 votes. In 1993, he joined the

. He turned down an offer from Roger Burrows to join the

Democratic Party Democratic Party most often refers to: *Democratic Party (United States) Democratic Party and similar terms may also refer to: Active parties Africa *Botswana Democratic Party *Democratic Party of Equatorial Guinea *Gabonese Democratic Party *Demo ...

. Following the first multi-racial elections in 1994, Singh was elected to the

as an IFP delegate from

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 ...

. He served in the Senate until 1996, when the IFP redeployed him to the KwaZulu-Natal Legislature. In April 1997, he was appointed to the province's Executive Council and served on the council until March 2006, when he resigned following a

sex scandal Public scandals involving allegations or information about possibly immoral sexual activities are often associated with the sexual affairs of film stars, politicians, famous athletes, or others in the public eye. Sex scandals receive attention ...

. Although the scandal was an embarrassment to the party, the party decided not to expel him. In August 2007, he was appointed to 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 ...

to replace Nhlanhla Zulu, who had died the previous month. Singh has since been re-elected in April 2009, May 2014 and May 2019. Singh was later appointed as the IFP's chief whip in the assembly. He is also the party's treasurer-general.

Personal life

Singh is married to Manitha, and they have two children together.

References

External links

Narend Singh
at

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Singh, Narend Living people 1954 births South African politicians of Indian descent People from KwaZulu-Natal Members of the National Assembly of South Africa Members of the KwaZulu-Natal Legislature 20th-century South African politicians 21st-century South African politicians Inkatha Freedom Party politicians