Keith Muntuwenkosi "Musa" Zondi (born 19 February 1960) is a South African politician who has been KwaZulu-Natal's

Member of the Executive Council In South Africa, the Executive Council of a province is the cabinet of the provincial government. The Executive Council consists of the Premier and five to ten other members,'' Constitution of the Republic of South Africa, 1996'', Chapter 6: "P ...

for Economic Development, Tourism and Environmental Affairs since 2024. A member of the

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 ...

, he was sworn in as a member of the

KwaZulu-Natal Legislature The KwaZulu-Natal Legislature is the primary legislative body of the South African province of KwaZulu-Natal. It is unicameral in its composition and elects the premier and the provincial cabinet from among the leading party or coalition members ...

in October 2023. Previously, he served as Deputy

Minister of Public Works This list indicates government departments in various countries dedicated to public works or infrastructure. See also * Public works * Ministry or Board of Public Works, the imperial Chinese ministry overseeing public projects from the Tang ...

from 2001 to 2004. He represented KwaZulu-Natal in the

National Council of Provinces The National Council of Provinces (NCOP) is the upper house of the Parliament of South Africa under the post-apartheid constitution of South Africa, constitution which came into full effect in 1997. It replaced the former Senate of South Africa# ...

from 1994 to 1999 and in 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 ...

from 1999 to 2012. He served as the party's secretary-general and was widely touted as a possible successor to IFP president

Mangosuthu Buthelezi Prince Mangosuthu Gatsha Buthelezi (; 27 August 1928 – 9 September 2023) was a South African politician and Zulu people, Zulu prince who served as the traditional prime minister to the Zulu royal family from 1954 until his death in 2023. He ...

before he resigned from his party office and legislative seat in February 2012.

Early life and career

Zondi was born on 19 February 1960 in Nkandla in 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 organised int ...

. He joined the Inkatha Youth Brigade in 1976 and also served as vice-chairman of the Students Christian Movement at Dlangezwa High School. His attempt to complete a bachelor's degree at the

University of Fort Hare The University of Fort Hare () is a public university in Alice, Eastern Cape, Alice, Eastern Cape, South Africa. It was a key institution of higher education for Africans from 1916 to 1959 when it offered a Western-style academic education to ...

was disturbed by student boycotts, and the

apartheid Apartheid ( , especially South African English: , ; , ) was a system of institutionalised racial segregation that existed in South Africa and South West Africa (now Namibia) from 1948 to the early 1990s. It was characterised by an ...

government denied him permission to study at

Wits University The University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg (), commonly known as Wits University or Wits, is a multi-campus public research university situated in the northern areas of central Johannesburg, South Africa. The university has its roots in ...

, a campus designated for whites. Instead, Zondi worked until 1984 in the government of the KwaZulu bantustan. He worked at Khulani Holdings, a private company, from 1984 to 1987, when he left to help establish the non-profit Foundation for Leadership Development. He was also elected national chairman of the Inkatha Youth Brigade in 1984.

Political career

In South Africa's first post-apartheid elections in 1994, Zondi was elected to represent Inkatha (by then restyled as the IFP) in the

KwaZulu-Natal KwaZulu-Natal (, also referred to as KZN) is a Provinces of South Africa, province of South Africa that was created in 1994 when the government merged the Zulu people, Zulu bantustan of KwaZulu ("Place of the Zulu" in Zulu language, Zulu) and ...

caucus of the

Senate A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...

(later the

). In the next general election in 1999, he was elected to the

on the party list for the

constituency. He also served as the IFP's national spokesperson. In January 2001, President

Thabo Mbeki Thabo Mvuyelwa Mbeki (; born 18 June 1942) is a South African politician who served as the 2nd democratic president of South Africa from 14 June 1999 to 24 September 2008, when he resigned at the request of his party, the African National Cong ...

appointed him to deputise Minister Stella Sigcau as Deputy

; he replaced Buyisiwe Nzimande. Following Zondi's re-election in

2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and Its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 60 ...

, President Mbeki invited him to stay on as Deputy Minister, but Zondi and Vincent Ngema, who had also been offered a deputy ministerial position, said that they could not accept the offer until Mbeki's party, 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 ...

, had reached a comprehensive agreement with the IFP about the nature of their partnership. After receiving this response, Mbeki said that he would simply appoint two other deputy ministers who were willing to accept the job immediately. Zondi continued as an ordinary Member of Parliament and was re-elected to his seat in

2009 2009 was designated as the International Year of Astronomy by the United Nations to coincide with the 400th anniversary of Galileo Galilei's first known astronomical studies with a telescope and the publication of Astronomia Nova by Joha ...

. Simultaneously, he served as secretary-general of the party and was considered a frontrunner to succeed

as IFP president; while the party's dissident factions generally preferred Zanele Magwaza-Msibi, Zondi had the support of some of the conservative core that had formerly supported Buthelezi. However, Buthelezi proved reluctant to retire, and the party's leadership elections were delayed indefinitely. In December 2011, Zondi announced that he would not stand for re-election as secretary-general and would instead seek to spend more time with his family. His announcement followed rumours that he was having an affair with a married IFP colleague; he said that his IFP rivals had been conducting a smear campaign against him and had even plotted to kill him to remove him from the succession race. In February 2012, Zondi announced his immediate retirement from frontline politics, resigning from the IFP secretary-general's office and from his legislative seat. In October 2023, Zondi returned to active politics as he was sworn into the

for the IFP. Following the 2024 provincial election, Zondi was appointed

(MEC) for the Economic Development, Tourism and Environmental Affairs (Edtea) portfolio by IFP premier

Thami Ntuli Arthur Thamsanqa Ntuli (born 11 November 1973) is a South African politician who is the Provincial Chairperson of the Inkatha Freedom Party in KwaZulu-Natal. He is the former mayor of Nkandla Local Municipality and King Cetshwayo District Munic ...

Personal life

He is married to Mrs Zondi, with whom he has two children. He is a member of the

Lutheran Church Lutheranism is a major branch of Protestantism that emerged under the work of Martin Luther, the 16th-century German friar and reformer whose efforts to reform the theology and practices of the Catholic Church launched the Reformation in 15 ...

and chairs KwaZulu-Natal's Diakonia Council of Churches, in which capacity he has publicly spoken against

xenophobia Xenophobia (from (), 'strange, foreign, or alien', and (), 'fear') is the fear or dislike of anything that is perceived as being foreign or strange. It is an expression that is based on the perception that a conflict exists between an in-gr ...

References

External links

*
"Why I'm stepping down – Musa Zondi"
at Politicsweb Living people 1960 births People from Nkandla Local Municipality Politicians from KwaZulu-Natal Members of the National Council of Provinces Members of the Senate of South Africa Members of the National Assembly of South Africa 1999–2004 Members of the National Assembly of South Africa 2004–2009 {{DEFAULTSORT:Zondi, Musa Inkatha Freedom Party politicians