Nokulunga Primrose Sonti (born 1 October 1961) is a South African politician from the

North West The points of the compass are a set of horizontal, radially arrayed compass directions (or azimuths) used in navigation and cartography. A compass rose is primarily composed of four cardinal directions—north, east, south, and west—each sepa ...

who served as 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 ...

for the

Economic Freedom Fighters The Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) is a South African left-wing to far-left pan-Africanist and Marxist–Leninist political party. It was founded by expelled former African National Congress Youth League (ANCYL) President Julius Malema, and hi ...

from May 2014 until May 2024. Sonti was previously a member of 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 ...

Early life and education

Nokulunga Primrose Sonti was born on 1 October 1961 in the Gqaqala settlement,

Tsolo Tsolo is a town in Mhlontlo Local Municipality in O.R.Tambo District of the Eastern Cape province of South Africa. The town is some 42 km north-west of Mthatha and 22 km south-west of Qumbu. The name, derived from Xhosa, is said to me ...

, in the previous

Cape Province The Province of the Cape of Good Hope ( af, Provinsie Kaap die Goeie Hoop), commonly referred to as the Cape Province ( af, Kaapprovinsie) and colloquially as The Cape ( af, Die Kaap), was a province in the Union of South Africa and subsequen ...

. She was the eldest of six children. She was enrolled at the Nqamakwe Jongabantu Secondary School in

Nqamakwe Nqamakwe is a town in Amatole District Municipality in the Eastern Cape province of South Africa. In 1865 a number of Mfengu clans were resettled in the area around Nqamakwe. As refugees from the Mfacane wars further north, they had relatively few ...

but did not finish school. Sonti also has no tertiary education. She was first employed at a shoe factory in

Butterworth Butterworth may refer to: Places * Butterworth (ancient township), a former township centred on Milnrow, in the then Parish of Rochdale, England, United Kingdom * Butterworth, Eastern Cape, now also known as Gcuwa, a town located in South Africa ...

before she met her husband. They moved to Wonderkop in the

in 1995.

Political career

Sonti was a leading figure in the

in Wonderkop until she stood as the ward councillor candidate for the

Marikana Marikana, formerly known as Rooikoppies, is a town in the Rustenburg local municipality, Bojanala Platinum District Municipality district in the North West province of South Africa. The name Rooikoppies means 'red hills' in Afrikaans. Neighbo ...

ward in the 2011 local government election. Due to harassment, she resigned from the ANC. Sonti was also employed as a clothing contractor in a mine on the outskirts of

Mooinooi Mooinooi is a platinum and palladium mining town in the North West province of South Africa, roughly halfway between Brits and Rustenburg. Formerly a boomtown A boomtown is a community that undergoes sudden and rapid population and economi ...

. In August 2012, the

Marikana massacre The Marikana massacre was the killing of thirty-four miners by the South African Police Service (SAPS) on 16 August 2012 during a six-week wildcat strike at the Lonmin platinum mine at Marikana near Rustenburg in South Africa's North West prov ...

occurred where 34 Lonmin miners were shot dead by police. She was initially mistaken as one of the widows. She and Thumeka Magwangqana formed a support group for the widows called "Sikhala Sonke" (We cry together). She later resigned from her job. In July 2013, expelled ANC youth league president

Julius Malema Julius Sello Malema (born 3 March 1981) is a South African politician and activist who is a Member of Parliament and the leader of the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF), a left-wing party which he founded in 2013. He was formerly the President of ...

formed the

. Sonti was recruited by Malema to join the party. In 2017, she featured in the ''Strike A Rock'' documentary, which documented the aftermath of the massacre and the formation of the support group.

Parliamentary career

Sonti was elected to 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 ...

in May 2014. She took office as an MP on 21 May 2014 and was assigned to serve on the Portfolio Committee on Public Works in June. During a parliamentary debate in March 2015, she referred to President

Jacob Zuma Jacob Gedleyihlekisa Zuma (; born 12 April 1942) is a South African politician who served as the fourth president of South Africa from 2009 to 2018. He is also referred to by his initials JZ and clan name Msholozi, and was a former anti-aparth ...

as "heartless" and "a thief" and told him to resign for his actions in the Marikana massacre. She was asked to withdraw her statement but refused. In June 2015, she became a member of the Portfolio Committee on Social Development. After the 2019 general election, Sonti took office for her second term on 22 May 2019. In June 2020, she was appointed to the Portfolio Committee on Women, Youth and Persons with Disabilities. Sonti was not placed on any EFF candidate list for the 2024 general election and left parliament at the election.

Personal life

Sonti was previously married. She has one daughter and three grandchildren.

References

External links

Ms Nokulunga Primrose Sonti – People's AssemblyMarikana’s mam’ Sonti – City Press
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sonti, Primrose Living people 1961 births Xhosa people Politicians from the Eastern Cape Members of the National Assembly of South Africa African National Congress politicians Economic Freedom Fighters politicians 21st-century South African politicians 21st-century South African women politicians People from North West (South African province) People from Bojanala Platinum District Municipality People from Madibeng Local Municipality People from Mhlontlo Local Municipality People from OR Tambo District Municipality