Vusumuzi Robert Shongwe (born 22 April 1958) is a South African politician who has served in the

provincial legislature In South Africa, a provincial legislature is the legislative branch of the government of a province.'' Chapter 6: Provinces'', Constitution of the Republic of South Africa, 1996. The provincial legislatures are unicameral and vary in size from 30 ...

and Executive Council in

Mpumalanga province Mpumalanga () is a province of South Africa. The name means "East", or literally "The Place Where the Sun Rises" in the Swazi, Xhosa, Ndebele and Zulu languages. Mpumalanga lies in eastern South Africa, bordering Eswatini and Mozambique. It ...

. Between September and November 2015, he served as acting

Premier of Mpumalanga The Premier of Mpumalanga is the head of government of Mpumalanga province in South Africa. The current Premier of Mpumalanga is Refilwe Mtsweni-Tsipane, a member of the African National Congress, who was appointed in March 2018. She took off ...

while Premier

David Mabuza David Dabede "DD" Mabuza (born 25 August 1960) is a South African politician who has been Deputy President of South Africa since February 2018. He was the Deputy President of the African National Congress (ANC) from December 2017 to December 2022 ...

was on sick leave. He is 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 ...

and was formerly treasurer of the party's provincial executive committee in Mpumalanga.

Early life

Vusumuzi Robert Shongwe was born on 22 April 1958 in Breyten near Ermelo in what is now

Career in government

In the

2014 South African general election General elections were held in South Africa on 7 May 2014, to elect a new National Assembly and new provincial legislatures in each province. It was the fifth election held in South Africa under conditions of universal adult suffrage since ...

, Shongwe was elected as a member of the

Mpumalanga provincial legislature The Mpumalanga Provincial Legislature (MPL), previously known as the Eastern Transvaal Legislature, is the primary legislative body of the South African province of Mpumalanga. The First Legislature was inaugurated in May 1994 as the Eastern Tr ...

for the

(ANC). He was appointed Member of the Executive Council (MEC) for Community Safety, Security and Liaison in the province, in which capacity he was the political head of the provincial security structure. While he was in this role,

took extended sick leave and Shongwe was appointed acting

in his stead between September and November 2015. After the 2016 local government elections, Mabuza reshuffled his cabinet and appointed Shongwe his MEC for Agriculture, Rural Development, Land and Environmental Affairs. He also became Leader of Government Business in the Mpumalanga legislature under Premier

Refilwe Mtsweni-Tsipane Refilwe Maria Tsipane (born 3 September 1973), known as Refilwe Mtsweni-Tsipane (alternatively spelt Mtshweni), is a South African politician and a party member of the African National Congress (ANC), who has been serving as the 5th Premier of Mp ...

. In February 2020, Premier Mtsweni-Tsipane assigned him to meet with Russia's Sverdlovsk region minister of international and foreign economic affairs, Visiliy Kozlov, for bilateral talks held in

Mbombela Mbombela (also known as Nelspruit) is a city in northeastern South Africa. It is the capital of the Mpumalanga province. Located on the Crocodile River, Mbombela lies about by road west of the Mozambique border, east of Johannesburg and north ...

.Premier delegates Vusi Shongwe to sign agreement with Russian Govt
013NEWS, 7 February 2020 In April 2020, Shongwe called on families and

municipalities A municipality is usually a single administrative division having corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality'' may also mean the go ...

in Mpumalanga to consider starting vegetable gardens in response to the COVID-19 outbreak in South Africa, as an alternative to receiving food donations. On 24 February 2021, Shongwe returned to his old portfolio as MEC for Community Safety, Security and Liaison.

African National Congress positions

In December 2015, Shongwe was elected the provincial treasurer of the ANC in Mpumalanga during an elective congress that also elected Mabuza for a third term as ANC provincial chairperson. Before that, Shongwe had served as regional chairperson of the ANC in the party's large Gert Sibande region.

Personal life

Shongwe lives in Ermelo in

Gert Sibande District Municipality Gert Sibande (until 2004 known as the Eastvaal District Municipality) is one of the 3 districts of Mpumalanga province of South Africa. The seat of Gert Sibande is Ermelo. The majority of its 900 007 people speak IsiZulu (2001 Census). The dis ...

. He is married to Charmaine Zwane and they have three children. Their third child, Sethu Thandiswa, died on 15 April 2015 at the age of eight when she was hit by a speeding car while crossing a street.MEC Shongwe's child dies in a car accident
Mpumalanga News, 16 April 2015. Retrieved 12 April 2020

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Shongwe, Vusi Living people 1958 births 21st-century South African politicians Members of the Mpumalanga Provincial Legislature