Nomakhaya Mavis Mdaka is a South African politician who served 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 ...

from 2004 to 2014, representing variously the

United Democratic Movement The United Democratic Movement (UDM) is a centre-left, social-democratic, South African political party, formed by a prominent former National Party leader, Roelf Meyer (who has since resigned from the UDM), a former African National Congress ...

(UDM), the

United Independent Front The United Independent Front (UIF) was a political party in South Africa. It broke away from the United Democratic Movement (UDM). Until his death in 2006, it was led by Malizole Diko. He and Nomakhaya Mdaka were the sole members of parliament ...

(UIF), and the

African National Congress The African National Congress (ANC) is a Social democracy, social-democratic political party in Republic of South Africa, South Africa. A liberation movement known for its opposition to apartheid, it has governed the country since 1994, when ...

(ANC). She defected from the UDM to the UIF during the floor-crossing period of 2005 and then from the UIF to the ANC during the floor-crossing period of 2007. After she resigned from the National Assembly in November 2014, Mdaka joined the African Transformation Movement (ATM).

Political career

Prior to her election to

Parliament In modern politics, and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: Representation (politics), representing the Election#Suffrage, electorate, making laws, and overseeing ...

, Mdaka was a member of the ANC. She was active in the

ANC Women's League The African National Congress Women's League (ANCWL) is an auxiliary women's political organization of the African National Congress, African National Congress (ANC) of South Africa. This organization has its precedent in the Bantu Women's League ...

in Chris Hani District in 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 ...

and she represented the party as a local councillor in Chris Hani District and

Engcobo Local Municipality Engcobo Local Municipality is an administrative area in the Chris Hani District of the Eastern Cape in South Africa. Ngcobo is an isiXhosa name for a sweet grass found in the area. Main places The 2001 census divided the municipality into the ...

United Democratic Movement: 2004–2005

In the 2004 general election, Mdaka was elected to the

, the lower house of the South African Parliament, representing the UDM in the Eastern Cape. On 5 August 2005, she and five other senior UDM members – including UDM Deputy President

Malizole Diko Malizole Diko (died 28 July 2006) was a South African politician who served in the National Assembly from April 2004 until his death in July 2006. He was the Deputy President of the United Democratic Movement (UDM) until the floor-crossing pe ...

– were suspended from the party amid reports that they intended to defect from the party in the upcoming floor-crossing period. The

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 ...

overturned the suspensions on 30 August, ruling that they had not been procedural in terms of the party's own constitution. However, the day after the ruling – which was the day before the floor-crossing window opened – Holomisa announced that Mdaka and the others had been expelled from the party with immediate effect for acting "in clear contravention of the letter and spirit of the UDM constitution". In terms of the

South African Constitution The Constitution of South Africa is the supreme law of the Republic of South Africa. It provides the legal foundation for the existence of the republic, it sets out the rights and duties of its citizens, and defines the structure of the Govern ...

, the expulsion entailed that Mdaka seat in the National Assembly. However, she successfully challenged the expulsion in court; on 14 September, the Cape High Court again overruled the party's decision as unlawful and invalid.

United Independent Front: 2005–2007

The second ruling came the day before the floor-crossing window closed, and, on 15 September, Mdaka formally joined Diko's newly established party, the UIF. However, she represented the UIF only until the next floor-crossing window in September 2007. Ahead of the floor-crossing period, in March 2007, the UIF in turn attempted to expel Mdaka, but she was again reinstated by order of the high court. On 12 September, she left the UIF to return to the ANC.

African National Congress: 2007–2014

Mdaka served the rest of the legislative term with the ANC and she was re-elected to her seat in the 2009 general election. In the next general election in 2014, she was elected to her third term in the National Assembly, ranked 98th on the ANC's national party list; however, she resigned from her seats months into the legislative term on 12 November 2014. She subsequently joined the ATM, which was founded in 2018, and in the 2019 general election she ran unsuccessfully for election to the National Assembly on the ATM's list.

Personal life

Mdaka has at least one child.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Mdaka, Nomakhaya Living people Year of birth missing (living people) United Democratic Movement (South Africa) politicians Members of the National Assembly of South Africa Women members of the National Assembly of South Africa African Transformation Movement politicians African National Congress politicians 21st-century South African politicians 21st-century South African women politicians