Maliyakhe Lymon Shelembe is a South African politician. Shelembe was an

Inkatha Freedom Party The Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP; ) is a conservative political party in South Africa, which is a part of the current South African Third Cabinet of Cyril Ramaphosa, government of national unity together with the African National Congress (ANC). A ...

member until 2011. He was elected to 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 repr ...

in 2014 as a member of the

National Freedom Party The National Freedom Party (NFP) is a South African political party. It was launched on 25 January 2011 by Zanele kaMagwaza-Msibi, former chairperson of the Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP), along with other former IFP members. Similar to the IFP, ...

. Shelembe became a Democratic Alliance MP after the 2019 elections.

Political career

He was elected as a ward councillor for the

in 2001. Later that year, he was elected Deputy Mayor of the Umtshezi Local Municipality. He eventually became mayor of the municipality. The

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 ...

won control of the municipality in 2004 and Shelembe became an ordinary council member. In 2007, he returned to the position of mayor. In 2011, he joined the newly created

and was elected as deputy mayor of the

Uthukela District Municipality The uThukela District Municipality () is one of the 11 districts of the KwaZulu-Natal province of South Africa. Its seat is Ladysmith. As of 2011, a majority of its 668,848 inhabitants spoke isiZulu. The district code is DC23. Geography Neighbo ...

after that year's municipal elections. He was elected the party's national chairperson in December 2011. Shelembe was elected to the

in 2014. In March 2019, he became a member of the Democratic Alliance and returned to parliament after the general elections in May that year. In June 2019, he was appointed as shadow deputy minister of Defence and Military Veterans. Shelembe remained in the position following

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 ...

's election as parliamentary leader. Shelembe was re-elected to the National Assembly in the

2024 general election This is a list of elections that were held in 2024. The National Democratic Institute also maintains a calendar of elections around the world. * 2024 United Nations Security Council election * 2024 national electoral calendar * 2024 local electo ...

References

External links

National Assembly profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Shelembe, Maliyake Living people Year of birth missing (living people) Zulu people Members of the National Assembly of South Africa 2019–2024 Members of the National Assembly of South Africa 2014–2019 Members of the National Assembly of South Africa 2024–2029 Democratic Alliance (South Africa) politicians Inkatha Freedom Party politicians Mayors of places in South Africa National Freedom Party politicians