Bridget Staff Masango (born 23 February 1962) is a South African Democratic Alliance politician from Gauteng who has served as the Shadow Minister of Social Development since October 2015. She has also been a

Member of the National Assembly In politics, a national assembly is either a unicameral legislature, the lower house of a bicameral legislature, or both houses of a bicameral legislature together. In the English language it generally means "an assembly composed of the rep ...

since October 2015. From May 2014 to October 2015, Masango served as a permanent delegate to the National Council of Provinces.

Background

Masango was born in Kwambonambi in the north of the former

Natal Province The Province of Natal (), commonly called Natal, was a province of South Africa from May 1910 until May 1994. Its capital was Pietermaritzburg. During this period rural areas inhabited by the black African population of Natal were organized into ...

(now

KwaZulu-Natal KwaZulu-Natal (, also referred to as KZN and known as "the garden province") is a province of South Africa that was created in 1994 when the Zulu bantustan of KwaZulu ("Place of the Zulu" in Zulu) and Natal Province were merged. It is locate ...

). She is the sixth of nine children. She soon moved to the Transvaal Province, where her father found employment as a security guard. She worked for Group 5, where she met veteran Democratic Alliance politician

Michael Moriarty Michael Moriarty (born April 5, 1941) is an American-Canadian actor and jazz musician. He received an Emmy Award and Golden Globe Award for his first acting role on American television as a Nazi SS officer in the 1978 mini-series ''Holocaust'' ...

. Masango was a member of the Inkatha Freedom Party and before she became active in the DA, she worked as a communications manager for the Nelson Mandela Children's Foundation.

National Council of Provinces (2014–2015)

Prior to the 2014 general election, she was ranked low on both the DA's national and regional lists. She was not elected to the National Assembly, the lower house, as a consequence. However, the DA selected her to represent the party in the National Council of Provinces, the upper house. On 22 May 2014, Masango was sworn in as Gauteng's permanent delegate to the NCOP. On 3 October 2015, the DA leader in the National Assembly, Mmusi Maimane, appointed her as Shadow Minister of Social Development. She resigned from the NCOP on 5 October.

Committee assignments

*Select Committee on Education and Recreation *Select Committee on Social Services *Select Committee on Communications and Public Enterprises *Select Committee on Land and Mineral Resources

National Assembly

On 6 October 2015, Masango entered the National Assembly. She became a member of the Portfolio Committee on Social Development on 15 October. In 2016, Masango questioned who paid for then-Minister of Social Development Bathabile Dlamini's R110,000 stay at The Oyster Box hotel. On 15 February 2017, she delivered her maiden speech at the annual State of the Nation Address debate. Masango was re-elected at the 2019 general election. In June 2020, Masango called on president Cyril Ramaphosa to remove Lindiwe Zulu as Minister of Social Development. In December 2020, Masango was re-appointed to her shadow cabinet role by the newly elected DA leader,

John Steenhuisen John Henry Steenhuisen (born 25 March 1976) is a South African politician who has served as the leader of the Opposition since October 2019 and has been the federal leader of the Democratic Alliance since November 2020, having served as the in ...

Committee assignment

*Portfolio Committee on Social Development

Personal life

Masango was married and has one daughter. Her one brother died in May 2015.

References

External links

National Assembly profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Masango, Bridget Living people 1962 births Zulu people People from KwaZulu-Natal People from Gauteng Democratic Alliance (South Africa) politicians Members of the National Assembly of South Africa Women members of the National Assembly of South Africa Members of the National Council of Provinces Women members of the National Council of Provinces