Zweli Mkhize

Zwelini Mkhize
Minister of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs
Incumbent
Assumed office 27 February 2018
President	Cyril Ramaphosa
Preceded by	David Van Rooyen
Treasurer General of the African National Congress
In office 18 December 2012 – 18 December 2017
Preceded by	Mathews Phosa
Succeeded by	Paul Mashatile
5th Premier of KwaZulu-Natal
In office 6 May 2009 – 1 September 2013
Preceded by	S'bu Ndebele
Succeeded by	Senzo Mchunu
Personal details
Born	(1956-02-02) 2 February 1956 Pietermaritzburg, South Africa
Political party	African National Congress
Spouse(s)	May Mashego
Alma mater	University of Natal

Zwelini Lawrence Mkhize (born 2 February 1956) is a South African doctor, legislator and politician who currently serves as Minister of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs and is the former Treasurer-General of the African National Congress,^[1] serving between 2012 and 2017

Early life

Zwelini Mkhize was born in Willowfontein, Pietermaritzburg on the 2nd of February in 1956.^[2] He is the fifth child in a family of seven. His paternal great-grandfather was one of the great heroes of the Mkhize clan of Nkandla in the early to mid 19th century. At the age of 26, Zweli Mkhize had completed his degree in medicine at the University of Natal. By 1983 his internship at the McCord Hospital was completed; this was important since McCord was often reprimanded for disobeying the Group Areas Act.^[3] Mkhize ended up gaining employment at Edendale Hospital in his hometown of Pietermaritzburg in the following year.^[4] Despite his accomplishments at Edendale, life was not safe for a successful young black doctor and activist: due to the Apartheid movement, he was forced into exile in Swaziland, eventually settling in Zimbabwe. He returned to South Africa in 1991, where he worked at Themba Hospital in the then Eastern Transvaal.

Political career

Upon his return to South Africa in 1991,^[5] Mkhize began serving the African National Congress as a member of its national health secretariat- the structure that was tasked with the responsibility of developing the country's health policy. At the start of the democratic dispensation, Mkhize was appointed as the MEC for health in 1994- a position he held for a decade. He was the longest serving provincial health MEC in the country.^[6]

In 2004, he was appointed the MEC for Finance and Economic Development in KwaZulu Natal. At the same time he was also the chairperson of the ANC's National Education and Health subcommittee.

He was designated on 30 April 2009 as the ANC candidate for Premier of KwaZulu-Natal and was elected to that position by the provincial legislature on 6 May.

He was elected ANC chairperson in KwaZulu Natal in 2008 and was reelected in 2012.^[7]

He served as the chancellor of the University of KwaZulu-Natal since 2009 until 2017.^[8]

Treasurer General of the African National Congress (ANC)

On 22 August 2013 Zweli Mkhize, as and understanding the constitutional requirements of the Treasurer General position of the African National Congress, stepped down as Premier of KwaZulu-Natal stating, "After considering the workload associated with my two responsibilities, I have come to the conclusion that I need to spend more time fulfilling my responsibilities as the treasurer general of the African National Congress."^[11] Mkhize would be based at ANC headquarters Luthuli House in Johannesburg full time as from 1 September.^[12]

On December 18, 2017, ANC Gauteng secretary Paul Mashatile was elected the new Treasurer General of the African National Congress at the 54th National conference.^[13]

See also

• Siphiwe Mvuyane

References