Nathi Nhleko

For the South African soccer player, see Toni Nhleko.

Nathi Nhleko
Member of the National Assembly
In office 27 February 2018 – 7 May 2019
Constituency	KwaZulu-Natal
In office 9 May 1994 – 1 September 2005
Minister of Public Works
In office 31 March 2017 – 26 February 2018
President	Jacob Zuma
Deputy	Jeremy Cronin
Preceded by	Thulas Nxesi
Succeeded by	Thulas Nxesi
Minister of Police
In office 26 May 2014 – 31 March 2017
President	Jacob Zuma
Deputy	Maggie Sotyu
Preceded by	Nathi Mthethwa
Succeeded by	Fikile Mbalula
Chief Whip of the Majority Party
In office May 2002 – June 2004
Speaker	Frene Ginwala
Preceded by	Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula
Succeeded by	Mbulelo Goniwe
Personal details
Born	Nkosinathi Phiwayinkosi Thamsanqa Nhleko (1964-10-10) 10 October 1964 (age 60) Ndabayakhe, Natal Province South Africa
Political party	Umkhonto weSizwe Party (since 2024)
Other political affiliations	African National Congress (until 2024)
Alma mater	Leeds Metropolitan University

Nkosinathi Phiwayinkosi Thamsanqa Nhleko (born 10 October 1964) is a South African politician and former trade unionist from KwaZulu-Natal. He was the Minister of Police and Minister of Public Works in the second cabinet of President Jacob Zuma. In March 2024, he resigned from the African National Congress (ANC) and became the national organiser for Zuma's Umkhonto we Sizwe Party.

Raised in Empangeni, Nhleko rose to prominence as the general secretary of the Transport and General Workers' Union from 1989 to 1993. He was elected to the first post-apartheid Parliament in May 1994 and represented the ANC in the National Assembly until September 2005. During that time, he served as Chief Whip of the Majority Party from 2002 to 2004. From 2005 to 2014, he took a hiatus from legislative politics to work in business and public administration, including as correctional services commissioner in Kwa-Zulu-Natal and as director-general in the Department of Labour.

In May 2014, Nhleko returned to national government as Minister of Police, an office he held until March 2017. During this period, he made several controversial decisions, including recommending that Zuma should be absolved of personal liability in Nkandlagate. After a cabinet reshuffle, he served as Minister of Public Works from March 2017 until February 2018, when he was sacked by Zuma's successor, President Cyril Ramaphosa. Thereafter he served as a backbencher in the National Assembly until the 2019 general election.

Early life and education

Nhleko was born on 10 October 1964^[1] in Ndabayakhe,^[2][3] a village near KwaMbonambi in the former Natal Province.^[4] He grew up in Matshana in nearby Empangeni.^[2] From 1982 to 1986, he attended Amangwe High School in Matshana, where he was active in student politics,^[5] but he did not matriculate: he failed his exams twice and missed a third sitting because he had been detained by the apartheid police.^[6]

After the end of apartheid, Nhleko nonetheless attended university; he completed a diploma in labour law at the Graduate Institute of Management and Technology in 2007 and then a master's degree in leadership and change management at Leeds Metropolitan University in 2012.^[6]

Trade union activism

Nhleko became active in the trade union movement in the 1980s. He rose through the ranks of the Transport and General Workers' Union, an affiliate of the Congress of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu), to become general secretary from 1989 to 1993.^[4]

National Assembly: 1994–2005

In South Africa's first post-apartheid elections in 1994, Nhleko was elected to the National Assembly, the lower house of the South African Parliament.^[7] He represented the African National Congress (ANC) but was nominated as a candidate by Cosatu, the ANC's Tripartite Alliance partner.^[4] Over the next two legislative terms, he held several positions in the assembly, including as a delegate to the Judicial Service Commission, chairperson of the Portfolio Committee on Public Service and Administration, and chairperson of the ANC parliamentary caucus.^[8][4]

In May 2002,^[9] Nhleko was appointed as Chief Whip of the Majority Party after the incumbent, Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula, became Deputy Minister of Home Affairs.^[10] The following year, the Mail & Guardian named him as one of 20 politicians who would "emerge as key figures in our public life over the next 10 years"; according to the newspaper, he had "made a favourable impact as an efficient backroom organiser" in the National Assembly.^[11]

However, on 24 June 2004, shortly after the 2004 general election, the ANC announced that, with immediate effect, Nhleko would be replaced as chief whip by Mbulelo Goniwe. His demotion to the parliamentary backbenches was viewed as surprising, and he did not provide an explanation beyond saying that he had been "redeployed" by the national leadership of the ANC.^[9] After a year as a backbencher, Nhleko resigned from the National Assembly on 1 September 2005, ceding his seat to Vusi Nhlapo.^[12] The Mail & Guardian lamented his departure from Parliament, saying that he (along with Ned Kekana, Vusi Mavimbela, and Raenette Taljaard) had formerly "seemed poised to make it a site of interesting politics".^[13]

Political hiatus: 2005–2014

After his departure from legislative politics, Nhleko ran his own company.^[13] In 2006, he was appointed as regional commissioner of correctional services in Kwa-Zulu-Natal,^[4] in which capacity he oversaw Schabir Shaik's release on medical parole.^[14] He went on to serve as deputy municipal manager in Umhlathuze Local Municipality and as head of the specialised anti-corruption unit in the national Department of Public Service and Administration.^[8][15]

Labour director-general: 2011–2013

On 24 May 2011, the Department of Labour announced that Nhleko had been appointed as director-general, succeeding Jimmy Manyi.^[15] During his two years in that position, he was also rumoured to be the frontrunner to succeed Bheki Cele as National Police Commissioner,^[16] though he did not ultimately get the job.

In November 2013, the Star reported that he had been removed unceremoniously from his director-general post "following a breakdown in the relationship between him and Labour Minister Mildred Oliphant".^[17] Nhleko agreed that "challenges" between him and Oliphant "have made the relationship to be irreconcilable to an extent that I do not believe we can continue to work together".^[17] According to the Mail & Guardian's sources, the centre of the row between Oliphant and Nhleko was the Compensation Fund, an agency under the department, and in particular the fact that Nhleko had launched a forensic investigation into the fund that was subsequently blocked by Oliphant.^[5] He left Oliphant's department on secondment to the Department of Public Service and Administration, pending a determination on his employment by the president;^[17] he ended up serving in the compliance department in the office of Lindiwe Sisulu, then the Minister of Public Service and Administration.^[5]

Nhleko's activities in the Department of Labour were later the subject of a large civil lawsuit, launched by a founding member of the Workers Association Union. The complainant, Thebe Maswabi, alleged that WAU had been established with the encouragement and funding of government agents, including Nhleko, who wanted the union to compete with the Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union, which was hostile to the ANC.^[18][19]

Minister of Police: 2014–2017

After the 2014 general election, President Jacob Zuma announced that Nhleko would join his second-term cabinet as Minister of Police.^[20] During a parliamentary debate on Nhleko's first budget vote speech two months later, Dianne Kohler Barnard of the opposition Democratic Alliance wrongly accused Nhleko of having "left school somewhere in standard nine [and having] no further education"; she later said that she'd gotten this information from the Who's Who website.^[6][21]

Early in his tenure as minister, Nhleko made controversial changes in the leadership of the Hawks, suspending Anwa Dramat as the unit's head and then appointing Berning Ntlemeza to replace Dramat.^[22] The Pretoria High Court later declared Ntlemeza's appointment invalid after an application by the Helen Suzman Foundation.^[23] Nhleko also established a multi-disciplinary police task force to investigate and seek to prevent political killings in South Africa, announced in June 2016.^[24]

Nkandlagate

Main article: Nkandlagate

However, Nhleko received the most attention as minister for his actions during the prolonged public controversy about security upgrades at Zuma's Nkandla residence. Following the Public Protector's report on the saga, which found Zuma personally liable to pay for the upgrades, Nhleko was appointed to conduct the government's own investigation. On 28 May 2015, he presented his findings to Parliament, recommending that Zuma should be absolved entirely and that the state should bear the cost of the upgrades. According to Nhleko, all of the upgrades – including a cattle kraal and particularly controversial fire pool – were justifiable and even necessary security features.^[25] The National Assembly adopted Nhleko's report in August 2015,^[26] although the Constitutional Court later ruled, in Economic Freedom Fighters v Speaker of the National Assembly, that the assembly had violated the Constitution in endorsing Nhleko's recommendations over those of the Public Protector.^[27]

In the interim, Nhleko elaborated on his defence of Zuma in other public forums,^[28] leading a Mail & Guardian editorial to excoriate him for "merrily continu[ing] to make a fool of himself as he peddles lies and distortions to keep Zuma personally unaccountable for state spending at Nkandla".^[29] Nhleko had been viewed as part of Zuma's "inner circle" for some time,^[30] and by March 2016, City Press reported that Nhleko had become one of Zuma's "most dependable allies".^[31]

Conflict with Robert McBride

In March 2015, Nhleko suspended Robert McBride as the head of the Independent Police Investigative Directorate. McBride challenged the decision and won in September 2016, when the Constitutional Court ruled that Nhleko's decision was invalid.^[32] After the judgement was handed down, the Democratic Alliance called for Nhleko to resign.^[33]

Tensions between Nhleko and McBride remained. In December 2018, after Nhleko had left the ministry, McBride alleged in an affidavit to the Zondo Commission that Nhleko had been involved in the establishment of 16-member covert paramilitary squad, recruited in 2016 and trained in the People's Republic of China. Nhleko had apparently helped the members of the squad gain employment in law enforcement agencies, including the Hawks and police crime intelligence.^[30] The Daily Maverick said that he approached the newspaper to demand that they retract publication of McBride's allegations.^[34] According to McBride, the members of the squad, mostly from northern KwaZulu-Natal, had been recruited through Indoni, a youth moral regeneration movement founded by Nhleko's partner, Nomcebo Mthembu.^[30][35] There had earlier been reports that Indoni had done business with Nhleko's ministry.^[36] Following McBride's testimony, Nhleko himself was summoned to testify before the Zondo Commission; he concluded his testimony by maintaining that, "I always acted in the best interest of both the law and the public."^[37]

Minister of Public Works: 2017–2018

Just after midnight in the early hours of 31 March 2017, Zuma announced a controversial cabinet reshuffle that saw Nhleko appointed as Minister of Public Works.^[38] Nhleko announced a target of creating 1.4 million job opportunities in the 2017/2018 financial year through the department's extended public works programme and other schemes.^[39] However, he remained in the portfolio for less than a year: on 26 February 2018, he was sacked and replaced by Thulas Nxesi. He was sacked by Cyril Ramaphosa, who had recently replaced Zuma as President of South Africa.^[40]

Until then, Nhleko had served in the cabinet from outside Parliament; the day after Ramaphosa's reshuffle, on 27 February, he was sworn in to an ANC seat in the National Assembly, replacing Makhosi Khoza, who had been expelled from the party.^[41] As an ordinary Member of Parliament, Nhleko joined the Standing Committee on Finance, where he served until he left the National Assembly in the 2019 general election.^[42]

Umkhonto we Sizwe Party: 2024–present

In March 2024, Nhleko retired his ANC membership. In a resignation letter printed in the Mail & Guardian, he said that the party's "current values and principles are not aligned to mine".^[43] The letter reserved special criticism for ANC secretary-general Fikile Mbalula, who had recently disowned Nhleko's handling of Nkandlagate^[44] and whom Nhleko accused of "bankruptcy, lunacy, and [a] defunct manner of thinking".^[43] He also criticised what he described as the ANC government's "dismantling" and privatisation of state-owned enterprises.^[43] Mbalula responded to the letter by redoubling his criticism of Nhleko, Tweeting that, "Indeed our revolution did produce villains,"^[45] and the ANC's KwaZulu-Natal provincial secretary, Bheki Mtolo, was quoted as having said, "It's good riddance, it's long overdue."^[46]

Three weeks later, Nhleko was appointed as national organiser for former President Zuma's newly established Umkhonto we Sizwe Party (MK Party).^[47] He held that role during the party's 2024 general election campaign,^[48] and, along with Tom Moyane and Sihle Ngubane, he was a member of the party's delegation to the post-election coalition negotiations.^[49]

Personal life

Nhleko is a member of the eBuhleni faction of the Shembe Church.^[50] He married Nothando Nkomo in a traditional Shembe wedding at the University of Zululand in November 2014,^[51] though the couple reportedly separated in 2016.^[52]

References

1. "General Notice: Notice 1319 of 1999 – Electoral Commission: Representatives Elected to the Various Legislatures" (PDF). Government Gazette of South Africa. Vol. 408, no. 20203. Pretoria, South Africa: Government of South Africa. 11 June 1999. Retrieved 26 March 2021.
2. "Zululanders shine in Zuma's cabinet". Zululand Observer. 29 May 2014. Retrieved 30 July 2023.
3. "#CabinetReshuffle: Meet your new cabinet ministers". Weekend Argus. 1 April 2017. Retrieved 30 July 2023.
4. "Between a rock and really hard places". Independent Online. 3 May 2015. Retrieved 30 July 2023.
5. "What suit will police minister fill?". The Mail & Guardian. 29 May 2014. Retrieved 30 July 2023.
6. "DA claims about Nhleko's 'slim CV' disputed". The Mail & Guardian. 28 July 2014. Retrieved 30 July 2023.
7. South Africa: Campaign and Election Report April 26–29, 1994. International Republican Institute. 1994. Retrieved 13 April 2023 – via Yumpu.
8. "Nkosinathi Phiwayinkosi Thamsanqa Nhleko, Mr". South African Government. Retrieved 30 July 2023.
9. "ANC reshuffles top party officials". The Mail & Guardian. 25 June 2004. Retrieved 30 July 2023.
10. "'Crosstitution' battle rages on". News24. 20 November 2002. Retrieved 30 July 2023.
11. "Climbing to the top of the greasy pole". The Mail & Guardian. 20 December 2003. Retrieved 30 July 2023.
12. "National Assembly Members". Parliamentary Monitoring Group. 15 January 2009. Archived from the original on 14 May 2009. Retrieved 8 April 2023.
13. "The B-class". The Mail & Guardian. 24 May 2005. Retrieved 30 July 2023.
14. "N Balfour on transfer of S Shaik to Durban Westville Prison hospital". South African Government. 15 February 2007. Retrieved 30 July 2023.
15. "Labour dept names Nhleko as new DG". The Mail & Guardian. 24 May 2011. Retrieved 30 July 2023.
16. "Dear Mr Cele, you're fired". The Mail & Guardian. 8 June 2012. Retrieved 30 July 2023.
17. "Minister 'breaks rules' to remove D-G". The Star. 14 November 2013. Retrieved 30 July 2023.
18. Myburgh, Pieter-Louis (19 December 2016). "Nhleko named in bogus union claims". News24. Retrieved 30 July 2023.
19. Myburgh, Pieter-Louis (9 December 2016). "Zuma, ministers in court over 'covert' workers' union". News24. Retrieved 30 July 2023.
20. "Zuma's Cabinet: Nene for Gordhan, Nathi for Nathi". The Mail & Guardian. 25 May 2014. Retrieved 30 July 2023.
21. "Police minister rubbishes claims he left school in 'Standard 9'". News24. 21 July 2014. Retrieved 30 July 2023.
22. "Ntlemeza confirmed as new Hawks head". The Mail & Guardian. 10 September 2015. Retrieved 30 July 2023.
23. Mashego, Abram (19 March 2017). "Police minister to appeal court decision against Ntlemeza". City Press. Retrieved 30 July 2023.
24. "Special police task force to probe political killings, says police minister". The Mail & Guardian. 5 June 2016. Retrieved 30 July 2023.
25. "Zuma doesn't have to pay back a cent – report". The Mail & Guardian. 29 May 2015. Retrieved 30 July 2023.
26. "Nkandla: Zuma's off the hook, for now". The Mail & Guardian. 19 August 2015. Retrieved 30 July 2023.
27. "Secret ballot: Yes, Mbete may – but maybe not". The Mail & Guardian. 23 June 2017. Retrieved 30 July 2023.
28. "Nutty Nhleko and the Qunu firepool". The Mail & Guardian. 2 July 2015. Retrieved 30 July 2023.
29. "Editorial: Number One's unforgivable sins". The Mail & Guardian. 2 July 2015. Retrieved 30 July 2023.
30. Thamm, Marianne (27 March 2019). "Death Squads & Covert Units: Nathi Nhleko's not-so-hidden hand in State Capture to be revealed". Daily Maverick. Retrieved 30 July 2023.
31. "Cards stacked against Zuma". City Press. 6 March 2016. Retrieved 30 July 2023.
32. "Concourt rules in favour of Robert McBride". The Mail & Guardian. 6 September 2016. Retrieved 30 July 2023.
33. "Nathi Nhleko must resign over McBride Constitutional Court ruling, says DA". The Mail & Guardian. 6 September 2016. Retrieved 30 July 2023.
34. Thamm, Marianne (26 February 2020). "Nhleko's teatime with Mkhwebane: A real Rogue Unit in the making?". Daily Maverick. Retrieved 30 July 2023.
35. Thamm, Marianne (3 June 2019). "From Death Squad to Dead Squad: Nhleko's Chinese-trained 'secret agents' left stranded and fearful". Daily Maverick. Retrieved 30 July 2023.
36. "Minister asks for probe on claimed payments to firm linked to alleged lover". Business Day. 29 November 2016. Retrieved 30 July 2023.
37. Ngatane, Nthakoana (29 July 2020). "Nathi Nhleko: 'I always acted in the interest of public as police minister'". EWN. Retrieved 30 July 2023.
38. Thamm, Marianne (31 March 2017). "The axeman strikes: Gordhan sidelined in Zuma's late-night cabinet reshuffle gamble". Daily Maverick. Retrieved 30 July 2023.
39. "South African Cabinet Report Cards: Nathi Nhleko". Mail & Guardian. 16 December 2019. Retrieved 30 July 2023.
40. "Ramaphosa fires 10 Cabinet ministers. Who's out?". Business Day. 26 February 2018. Retrieved 30 July 2023.
41. Lujabe, Ndileka (27 February 2018). "Nine new MPs sworn into Parliament following Cabinet reshuffle". City Press. Retrieved 30 July 2023.
42. "Nkosinathi Nhleko". People's Assembly. Retrieved 30 July 2023.
43. Tandwa, Lizeka (4 March 2024). "Nathi Nhleko resigns from ANC, calls out 'lunacy' of Fikile Mbalula". The Mail & Guardian. Retrieved 16 June 2024.
44. Masuabi, Queenin (8 January 2024). "Mbalula admits ANC lied to protect Zuma in 'fire pool' debacle". Daily Maverick. Retrieved 16 June 2024.
45. "ANC unfazed as 'lying, sweating' Zuma police minister Nhleko leaves the party". Sunday Times. 6 March 2024. Retrieved 16 June 2024.
46. "South Africa election: Zuma ally Nathi Nhleko resigns from governing ANC". BBC News. 5 March 2024. Retrieved 16 June 2024.
47. "'Mr Firepool' former police minister appointed Zuma's MK Party national organiser ahead of 2024 elections". IOL. 28 March 2024. Retrieved 16 June 2024.
48. Maeko, Thando (17 May 2024). "MK party banks on Zuma's political appeal at polls, says Nathi Nhleko". Business Day. Retrieved 16 June 2024.
49. "State capture enablers Tom Moyane, Nathi Nhleko lead MK Party coalitions negotiating team". Sunday Times. 7 June 2024. Retrieved 16 June 2024.
50. "Shembes start annual pilgrimage". Independent Online. 4 January 2016. Retrieved 30 July 2023.
51. Phungula, Willem (17 November 2014). "Top cop Nathi Nhleko marries the traditional way!". Daily Sun. Retrieved 30 July 2023.
52. "Police minister's maintenance was '50 nappies and baby formula'". The Citizen. 15 January 2017. Retrieved 30 July 2023.

External links

• Mr Nkosinathi Nhleko at People's Assembly

Trade union offices
Preceded by Jane Barratt	General Secretary of the Transport and General Workers' Union 1989–1994	Succeeded by Randall Howard