Nomhle Maria Mahlawe (born 19 February 1941) is a South African politician. She represented 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) 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 2001 to 2009 and before that in the

Eastern Cape Provincial Legislature The Eastern Cape Provincial Legislature is the primary legislative body of the South African province of Eastern Cape. It is unicameral in its composition, and elects the premier and the provincial cabinet from among the members of the leading par ...

. She defected to the rival Congress of the People (COPE) in 2009.

Political career

Before joining the national Parliament, Mahlawe was a member of the

. She left the province on 16 February 2001, when she was sworn in to an ANC seat in the Eastern Cape caucus of the National Assembly; she replaced Rosemary Capa, who had left her seat after the December 2000 local elections. Mahlawe was re-elected to a full term in the National Assembly in the 2004 general election. Ahead of the 2009 general election, Mahlawe left the ANC for COPE, a new breakaway opposition party. She stood under COPE's banner for re-election to the National Assembly, now in the KwaZulu-Natal caucus, but she was not elected. Mahlawe nonetheless remained active in COPE, serving as a spokesperson for the party and as its deputy provincial secretary in

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 ...

. After the party split between supporters of Sam Shilowa and supporters of

Mosiuoa Lekota Mosiuoa Gerard Patrick Lekota (born 13 August 1948) is a South African politician, who currently serves as the President and Leader of the Congress of the People since 16 December 2008. Previously as a member of the African National Congress, ...

, Mahlawe firmly aligned herself to the latter camp.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mahlawe, Nomhle Living people African National Congress politicians Congress of the People (South African political party) politicians 21st-century South African politicians 21st-century South African women politicians 20th-century South African politicians 20th-century South African women politicians Members of the Eastern Cape Provincial Legislature Members of the National Assembly of South Africa Women members of the National Assembly of South Africa 1941 births