Aumsensingh "Omie" Singh (born 22 June 1957) is a South African politician and businessman 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 ...

. From 2014 to 2019, he 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 Council of Provinces The National Council of Provinces (NCOP) is the upper house of the Parliament of South Africa under the (post-apartheid) constitution which came into full effect in 1997. It replaced the former Senate, but is very similar to that body, and to ma ...

, where he co-chaired

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 ...

's Joint Committee on Ethics and Members' Interests. Before that, he served in the

KwaZulu-Natal Legislature The KwaZulu-Natal Legislature is the primary legislative body of the South African province of KwaZulu-Natal. It is unicameral in its composition and elects the premier and the provincial cabinet from among the leading party or coalition members i ...

from 2001 to 2014 and 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 1999 to 2001. Having entered politics as a member of 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 ...

(DP), he joined the ANC by

floor-crossing In parliamentary systems, politicians are said to cross the floor if they formally change their political affiliation to a different political party than which they were initially elected under (as is the case in Canada and the United Kingdom). ...

in March 2003.

Early life and career

Born on 22 June 1957 in

Durban Durban ( ) ( zu, eThekwini, from meaning 'the port' also called zu, eZibubulungwini for the mountain range that terminates in the area), nicknamed ''Durbs'',Ishani ChettyCity nicknames in SA and across the worldArticle on ''news24.com'' from ...

, Singh attended Chatsworth High School. He joined the

Progressive Federal Party The Progressive Federal Party (PFP) ( af, Progressiewe Federale Party) was a South African political party formed in 1977 through merger of the Progressive and Reform parties, eventually changing its name to the Progressive Federal Party. For it ...

, a predecessor to the DP, in 1986. He was a businessman until he became involved in frontline politics after the end of

apartheid Apartheid (, especially South African English: , ; , "aparthood") was a system of institutionalised racial segregation that existed in South Africa and South West Africa (now Namibia) from 1948 to the early 1990s. Apartheid was ...

Legislative career

Singh was a local councillor for the DP in Durban until the 1999 general election, when he was elected to a DP seat in the KwaZulu-Natal caucus of the National Assembly. He served in the seat for a little over two years, leaving on 1 October 2001 to join the KwaZulu-Natal Legislature, where he swopped seats with

Mark Lowe Mark Christopher Lowe (born June 7, 1983) is an American former professional baseball pitcher. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) Seattle Mariners, Texas Rangers, Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, Cleveland Indians, Toronto Blue Jays, and Detr ...

. In March 2003, while he was serving in the provincial legislature, Singh became the first public representative to take advantage of that month's floor-crossing window, announcing that he had resigned from the DP in order to join the ANC. He reportedly disagreed with the DP's decision to cooperate more closely with 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 ...

(IFP). He served the rest of the legislative term under the ANC banner and was re-elected to a full term in the seat, on the ANC's party list, in the 2004 general election. He was re-elected in

2009 File:2009 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The vertical stabilizer of Air France Flight 447 is pulled out from the Atlantic Ocean; Barack Obama becomes the first African American to become President of the United States; 2009 Iran ...

. In the 2014 general election, Singh was elected to the KwaZulu-Natal caucus of the

. He served a single term there and co-chaired Parliament's Joint Committee on Ethics and Members' Interests. He left Parliament after the 2019 general election and retired from frontline politics, though he was active as president of the KwaZulu-Natal International Business Association, as well as active in community organising in

Phoenix, KwaZulu-Natal Phoenix is a South African town about 25 kilometres northwest of Durban Central, in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. It was established as a town by the apartheid government in 1976, but it has a long history of Indian occupation. It is associated wi ...

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Singh, Omie Living people 1957 births African National Congress politicians Democratic Party (South Africa) politicians 21st-century South African politicians 20th-century South African politicians Members of the National Assembly of South Africa Members of the KwaZulu-Natal Legislature Members of the National Council of Provinces Politicians from KwaZulu-Natal People from Durban South African politicians of Indian descent