Bheki Mnyandu Explained

Party:African National Congress (since September 2005)
Office1:Member of the National Assembly
Termstart1:23 April 2004
Termend1:May 2009
Citizenship:South Africa
Birth Date:19 November 1955
Constituency1:KwaZulu-Natal
Otherparty:Democratic Alliance (until September 2005)
Birth Name:Bhekinhlahla Jeremia Mnyandu

Bhekinhlahla Jeremia Mnyandu (born 19 November 1955)[1] is a South African academic and politician who represented KwaZulu-Natal in the National Assembly from 2004 to 2009. He was a member of the Democratic Alliance (DA) until September 2005, when he crossed the floor to the African National Congress (ANC).

Political career

Mnyandu was formerly an academic in KwaZulu-Natal.[2] He joined the National Assembly as a DA representative after the 2004 general election; he was sworn in to the seat, one of the DA's eight in the KwaZulu-Natal caucus, after it was declined by member-elect Visvin Reddy.[3]

Hours before the end of the floor-crossing window of September 2005, Mnyandu announced that he had resigned from the DA in order to join the governing ANC.[4] He was accompanied by three other black DA MPs – Richard Ntuli, Enyinna Nkem-Abonta, and Dan Maluleke – and DA leader Tony Leon later complaint that they had all been "direct beneficiaries of the DA's attempts to increase the diversity of the party's leadership".

In the 2009 general election, Mnyandu stood for re-election under the ANC's banner, but he was ranked too low on the party list to win a seat.

Notes and References

  1. Web site: 6 April 2009 . 2009 National and Provincial Election – Final Candidate Lists . 27 May 2023 . Electoral Commission of South Africa.
  2. Web site: 2005-09-23 . DA: Five blacks out, four whites in . 2023-06-12 . The Mail & Guardian . en-ZA.
  3. Web site: 2009-01-15 . National Assembly Members . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20090514071402/http://www.pmg.org.za/parlinfo/nalist#_ftnref87 . 14 May 2009 . 2023-04-08 . Parliamentary Monitoring Group.
  4. Web site: 2005-09-15 . DA ‘surprised’ as five MPs jump ship . 2023-05-14 . The Mail & Guardian . en-ZA.