Refiloe Nt'sekhe (born 28 April 1977) is a South African politician who has been a Member of the Provincial Legislature since 2014. She served as Deputy Speaker of the

Gauteng Provincial Legislature The Gauteng Provincial Legislature is the legislature of the South African province of Gauteng. It is a unicameral body of 80 members elected every five years. The current legislature, the seventh, was 2019 Gauteng provincial election, elected on ...

from June to July 2024. A member of the Democratic Alliance, she served as one of the party's deputy federal chairpersons between 2015 and 2023 and as one of the party's national spokespeople between 2015 and 2020.

Early life and career

Nt'sekhe was born on 28 April 1977. She obtained a degree in politics and philosophy at the

University of Cape Town The University of Cape Town (UCT) (, ) is a public university, public research university in Cape Town, South Africa. Established in 1829 as the South African College, it was granted full university status in 1918, making it the oldest univer ...

. She later achieved a post-graduate degree in marketing from the same university. During her student years in the 1990s, she became a member of the South African Liberal Students Association (SALSA). She joined the DA in 2001. Nt'sekhe worked for the Foschini Group, Capespan,

South African Airways South African Airways (SAA) is the flag carrier of South Africa. Founded in 1929 as Union Airways it later rebranded to South African Airways in 1934, the airline is headquartered in Airways Park at O. R. Tambo International Airport in Johannes ...

Absa Group Limited Absa Group Limited, commonly known and stylized simply as absa (formerly the Amalgamated Banks of South Africa (ABSA) until 2005 and Barclays Africa Group Limited until 2018), is a multinational banking and financial services conglomerate ba ...

and the

South African Broadcasting Corporation The South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC) is the public broadcaster in South Africa, and provides 19 radio stations (Amplitude modulation, AM/Frequency modulation, FM) as well as 6 television broadcasts and 3 OTT Services to the general ...

, before becoming active in politics.

Political career

In 2009, she was appointed the DA's national director at the LEAD programme. She was elected the ward councillor for ward 24 of the

City of Ekurhuleni Metropolitan Municipality The City of Ekurhuleni Metropolitan Municipality (; ; ; ) is a metropolitan municipality that forms the local government of the East Rand region of Gauteng, a large suburban region east of Johannesburg. ''Ekurhuleni'' means "place of peace" in Xi ...

in the 2011 municipal election. The party's branch in

Tembisa Thembisa, formerly Tembisa, is a large Township (South Africa), township situated to the north of Kempton Park, Gauteng, Kempton Park on the East Rand, Gauteng, South Africa. It was established in 1957 when black people were resettled from Alexandr ...

soon elected her as constituency head. The following year, the DA named her its provincial spokesperson in

Gauteng Gauteng ( , ; Sotho-Tswana languages, Sotho-Tswana for 'place of gold'; or ) is one of the nine provinces of South Africa. Situated on the Highveld, Gauteng is the smallest province by land area in South Africa. Although Gauteng accounts f ...

. Prior to the 2014 general election, Nt'sekhe's name appeared on the DA's candidate list for the

. She was elected and took office as an MPL on 21 May 2014. In November 2014, she challenged incumbent

John Moodey John Clifford Moodey (born 22 November 1958) is a South African politician who is currently serving a Member of the Gauteng Provincial Legislature on behalf of ActionSA. He previously served as the Provincial Leader of the Democratic Alliance ( ...

for Gauteng DA provincial leader. Moodey won the election. At the 2015 Democratic Alliance Federal Congress, she was elected as one of three Deputy Federal Chairpersons. Nt'sekhe was also appointed the DA's national spokesperson in July 2015 following the resignation of

Marius Redelinghuys Marius "Manqoba" Redelinghuys is a South African politician and a former Member of Parliament for the Democratic Alliance (DA). He was first elected to the National Assembly on 7 May following the 2014 national elections and resigned in 20 ...

. She served alongside Phumzile van Damme until Van Damme resigned in February 2018 and was replaced by Solly Malatsi in June. At the party's elective conference in 2018, she won another term as a Deputy Federal Chairperson. She was re-elected as an MPL in the 2019 general election. Nt'sekhe is currently the party's Shadow MEC for Social Development. Nt'sekhe was re-elected as the first DA deputy federal chairperson at the party's Federal Congress held between 31 October and 1 November 2020. She served alongside Jacques Smalle and Anton Bredell. On 24 November 2020,

Siviwe Gwarube Siviwe Gwarube (born 14 July 1989) is a South African politician who is currently serving as Minister of Basic Education in the Third Cabinet of Cyril Ramaphosa, Government of National Unity (GNU) since July 2024. A member of the Democratic All ...

was announced as the new national spokesperson of the DA. On 23 August 2021, DA leader

John Steenhuisen John Henry Steenhuisen ( ; born 25 March 1976) is a South African politician who is currently serving as Minister of Agriculture (South Africa), Minister of Agriculture since July 2024. He has been the leader of the Democratic Alliance (South Af ...

announced Nt'sekhe as the DA's mayoral candidate for the

City of Ekurhuleni The City of Ekurhuleni Metropolitan Municipality (; ; ; ) is a metropolitan municipality that forms the local government of the East Rand region of Gauteng, a large suburban region east of Johannesburg. ''Ekurhuleni'' means "place of peace" in Xi ...

in the 2021 local government elections. In the local government election of 1 November 2021, no party obtained a majority in Ekurhuleni city council. The DA finished second again with 28.72% of the vote, behind the ruling

African National Congress The African National Congress (ANC) is a political party in South Africa. It originated as a liberation movement known for its opposition to apartheid and has governed the country since 1994, when the 1994 South African general election, fir ...

's 38.19%. The DA Gauteng leadership then encouraged her to resign as the DA's mayoral candidate and as an incoming councillor, because it seemed unlikely that she would be elected mayor since the DA decided against working with the ANC or the

Economic Freedom Fighters The Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) is a South African communist and black nationalist political party. It was founded by expelled former African National Congress Youth League (ANCYL) president Julius Malema, and his allies, on 26 July 20 ...

, the kingmakers in council. At the inaugural council meeting on 22 November, the DA's Ekurhuleni caucus leader,

Tania Campbell Tania Lynette Campbell (born 1967) is a South African Democratic Alliance politician who served as the Mayor of Ekurhuleni twice, from November 2021 until her removal in a motion of no confidence in October 2022 and again from November 2022 unt ...

, was unexpectedly elected as Executive Mayor with the help of the EFF and smaller parties. Nt'sekhe described Campbell's election as a "bittersweet moment" for her because the ANC was unseated from power. Nt'sekhe unsuccessfully stood for re-election as the party's Federal Congress in 2023. As the ANC lost its majority in the Gauteng Provincial Legislature in the 2024 provincial election, the party formed a coalition with other parties, including the DA, to govern the province. Nt'sekhe was elected deputy speaker of the provincial legislature as part of the coalition agreements. Following the collapse of negotiations between the DA and the ANC, Nt'sekhe resigned as deputy speaker on 9 July 2024.

Personal life

Nt'sekhe was married and has three children.

References

External links

Refiloe Nt'sekhe – People's AssemblyWATCH: Women in politics: The DA's Refiloe Ntsekhe – Eyewitness News
{{DEFAULTSORT:Nt'sekhe, Refiloe Living people 1977 births University of Cape Town alumni Democratic Alliance (South Africa) politicians South African women in politics Members of the Gauteng Provincial Legislature Women members of provincial legislatures of South Africa People from Tembisa