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Nkosinathi Phiwayinkosi Thamsanqa Nhleko (born 10 October 1964) is a South African politician and former
trade unionist A trade union (British English) or labor union (American English), often simply referred to as a union, is an organization of workers whose purpose is to maintain or improve the conditions of their employment, such as attaining better wages ...
from
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 ...
. He was the Minister of Police and
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 ...
in the second cabinet of President
Jacob Zuma Jacob Gedleyihlekisa Zuma (; born 12 April 1942) is a South African politician who served as the fourth president of South Africa from 2009 to 2018. He is also referred to by his initials JZ and clan names Nxamalala and Msholozi. Zuma was a for ...
. In March 2024, he resigned from 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 ...
(ANC) and became the national organiser for Zuma's Umkhonto we Sizwe Party. Raised in
Empangeni Empangeni is a town in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. It is approximately 157 kilometres north of Durban, in hilly countryside, overlooking a flat coastal plain and the major harbour town of Richards Bay 16 kilometres away. The N2 freeway runs eas ...
, Nhleko rose to prominence as the general secretary of the
Transport and General Workers' Union The Transport and General Workers' Union (TGWU or T&G) was one of the largest general union, general trade unions in the United Kingdom and Ireland—where it was known as the Amalgamated Transport and General Workers' Union (ATGWU)—with 900 ...
from 1989 to 1993. He was elected to the first post-apartheid Parliament in May 1994 and represented the ANC 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 ...
until September 2005. During that time, he served as
Chief Whip of the Majority Party The Chief Whip of the Majority Party is an official office bearer in the National Assembly of South Africa. , Mdumiseni Ntuli of the African National Congress (ANC) serves as the Chief Whip of the Majority Party, replacing Pemmy Majodina, who w ...
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 A ministry of labour ('' UK''), or labor ('' US''), also known as a department of labour, or labor, is a government department responsible for setting labour standards, labour dispute mechanisms, employment, workforce participation, training, and s ...
. 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 Matamela Cyril Ramaphosa (born 17 November 1952) is a South African businessman and politician serving as the 5th and current President of South Africa since 2018. A former Anti-Apartheid Movement, anti-apartheid activist and trade union leade ...
. Thereafter he served as a backbencher 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 ...
until the 2019 general election.


Early life and education

Nhleko was born on 10 October 1964 in Ndabayakhe, a village near KwaMbonambi 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 grew up in Matshana in nearby
Empangeni Empangeni is a town in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. It is approximately 157 kilometres north of Durban, in hilly countryside, overlooking a flat coastal plain and the major harbour town of Richards Bay 16 kilometres away. The N2 freeway runs eas ...
. From 1982 to 1986, he attended Amangwe High School in Matshana, where he was active in student politics, but he did not matriculate: he failed his exams twice and missed a third sitting because he had been detained by the apartheid police. After the
end of apartheid The apartheid system in South Africa was ended through a series of bilateral and multi-party negotiations between 1990 and 1993. The negotiations culminated in the passage of a new interim Constitution in 1993, a precursor to the Constitution ...
, Nhleko nonetheless attended university; he completed a diploma in
labour law Labour laws (also spelled as labor laws), labour code or employment laws are those that mediate the relationship between workers, employing entities, trade unions, and the government. Collective labour law relates to the tripartite relationship be ...
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 Leeds Beckett University (LBU), formerly known as Leeds Metropolitan University (LMU) and before that as Leeds Polytechnic, is a public university in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. It has campuses in the city centre and Headingley. The univer ...
in 2012.


Trade union activism

Nhleko became active in the
trade union movement The labour movement is the collective organisation of working people to further their shared political and economic interests. It consists of the trade union or labour union movement, as well as political parties of labour. It can be considere ...
in the 1980s. He rose through the ranks of the
Transport and General Workers' Union The Transport and General Workers' Union (TGWU or T&G) was one of the largest general union, general trade unions in the United Kingdom and Ireland—where it was known as the Amalgamated Transport and General Workers' Union (ATGWU)—with 900 ...
, an affiliate of the
Congress of South African Trade Unions The Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU or Cosatu) is a trade union federation in South Africa. It was founded in 1985 and is the largest of the country's three main trade union federations, with 21 affiliated trade unions.One Union ...
(Cosatu), to become general secretary from 1989 to 1993.


National Assembly: 1994–2005

In South Africa's first post-apartheid elections in 1994, Nhleko 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 ...
, the lower house of the
South African Parliament The Parliament of the Republic of South Africa is South Africa's legislature. It is located in Cape Town; the country's legislative capital. Under the present Constitution of South Africa, the bicameral Parliament comprises a National Asse ...
. He represented 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 ...
(ANC) but was nominated as a candidate by Cosatu, the ANC's
Tripartite Alliance The Tripartite Alliance is an alliance between the African National Congress (ANC), the Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU) and the South African Communist Party (SACP). The ANC holds a plurality in the South African parliament, ...
partner. 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. In May 2002, Nhleko was appointed as
Chief Whip of the Majority Party The Chief Whip of the Majority Party is an official office bearer in the National Assembly of South Africa. , Mdumiseni Ntuli of the African National Congress (ANC) serves as the Chief Whip of the Majority Party, replacing Pemmy Majodina, who w ...
after the incumbent,
Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula Nosiviwe Noluthando Mapisa-Nqakula (; born 13 November 1956) is a South African politician of the African National Congress (ANC). She was a Cabinet of South Africa, cabinet minister from 2004 to 2021 and the Speaker of the National Assembly of ...
, became Deputy Minister of Home Affairs. The following year, the ''
Mail & Guardian The ''Mail & Guardian'', formerly the ''Weekly Mail'', is a South African weekly newspaper and website, published by M&G Media in Johannesburg, South Africa. It focuses on political analysis, investigative reporting, Southern African news, loca ...
'' 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. 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 Mbulelo Terence Goniwe (born 25 October 1958) is a South African politician, businessman and former anti-apartheid activist who represented the African National Congress (ANC) in the National Assembly from 1994 to 2006. He was Chief Whip of the ...
. 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. After a year as a backbencher, Nhleko resigned from the National Assembly on 1 September 2005, ceding his seat to
Vusi Nhlapo Vusi Herbert Nhlapo (born 20 September 1956) is a South African politician and former trade unionist. He was the president of the National Education, Health and Allied Workers' Union from 1993 to 2004. After that, he represented the African Na ...
. 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".


Political hiatus: 2005–2014

After his departure from legislative politics, Nhleko ran his own company. In 2006, he was appointed as regional commissioner of correctional services in Kwa-Zulu-Natal, in which capacity he oversaw Schabir Shaik's release on medical parole. He went on to serve as deputy municipal manager in
Umhlathuze Local Municipality uMhlathuze Local Municipality is an administrative area in the King Cetshwayo District Municipality of KwaZulu-Natal in South Africa. The municipality is named after the Mhlatuze River. The municipality was enlarged at the time of the South Afri ...
and as head of the specialised anti-
corruption Corruption is a form of dishonesty or a criminal offense that is undertaken by a person or an organization that is entrusted in a position of authority to acquire illicit benefits or abuse power for one's gain. Corruption may involve activities ...
unit in the national
Department of Public Service and Administration The Department of Public Service and Administration (DPSA) is a department of the South African government that is responsible for the organisation and administration of the civil service. It is responsible for matters including labour relations ...
.


Labour director-general: 2011–2013

On 24 May 2011, the
Department of Labour A ministry of labour ('' UK''), or labor ('' US''), also known as a department of labour, or labor, is a government department responsible for setting labour standards, labour dispute mechanisms, employment, workforce participation, training, and s ...
announced that Nhleko had been appointed as
director-general A director general, general director or director-general (plural: ''directors general'', ''general directors'', ''directors-general'', ''director generals'' or ''director-generals'') is a senior executive officer, often the chief executive officer ...
, succeeding Jimmy Manyi. During his two years in that position, he was also rumoured to be the frontrunner to succeed
Bheki Cele Bhekokwakhe "Bheki" Hamilton Cele (born 22 April 1952) was the South African Minister of Police from February 2018 to 17 June 2024. He was National Commissioner of the South African Police Service for two years, until misconduct allegations led ...
as National Police Commissioner, though he did not ultimately get the job. In November 2013, the ''
Star A star is a luminous spheroid of plasma (physics), plasma held together by Self-gravitation, self-gravity. The List of nearest stars and brown dwarfs, nearest star to Earth is the Sun. Many other stars are visible to the naked eye at night sk ...
'' 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 Mildred Nelisiwe Oliphant (born 22 March 1959), formerly known as Mildred Buthelezi, was South Africa's Minister of Labour Minister of labour (in British English) or labor (in American English) is typically a cabinet-level position with portfolio ...
". 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". 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. He left Oliphant's department on secondment to the Department of Public Service and Administration, pending a determination on his employment by the president; he ended up serving in the compliance department in the office of
Lindiwe Sisulu Lindiwe Nonceba Sisulu (born 10 May 1954) is a South African politician. She represented the African National Congress (ANC) in the National Assembly of South Africa between April 1994 and March 2023. During that time, from 2001 to 2023, she se ...
, then the Minister of Public Service and Administration. 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 The Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union (AMCU) was formed in Mpumalanga, South Africa, in 1998 as a breakaway faction of the COSATU-affiliated National Union of Mineworkers (NUM). It was formally registered as a union in 2001. Acco ...
, which was hostile to the ANC.


Minister of Police: 2014–2017

After the 2014 general election, President
Jacob Zuma Jacob Gedleyihlekisa Zuma (; born 12 April 1942) is a South African politician who served as the fourth president of South Africa from 2009 to 2018. He is also referred to by his initials JZ and clan names Nxamalala and Msholozi. Zuma was a for ...
announced that Nhleko would join his second-term cabinet as Minister of Police. 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 nd havingno further education"; she later said that she'd gotten this information from the
Who's Who A Who's Who (or Who Is Who) is a reference work consisting of biographical entries of notable people in a particular field. The oldest and best-known is the annual publication ''Who's Who (UK), Who's Who'', a reference work on contemporary promin ...
website. Early in his tenure as minister, Nhleko made controversial changes in the leadership of the
Hawks Hawks are bird of prey, birds of prey of the family Accipitridae. They are very widely distributed and are found on all continents, except Antarctica. The subfamily Accipitrinae includes goshawks, sparrowhawks, sharp-shinned hawks, and othe ...
, suspending Anwa Dramat as the unit's head and then appointing Berning Ntlemeza to replace Dramat. The Pretoria High Court later declared Ntlemeza's appointment invalid after an application by the
Helen Suzman Foundation The Helen Suzman Foundation is an independent, non-partisan think tank in South Africa dedicated to promoting liberal democratic values and human rights in post-apartheid South Africa through its research, publications, litigation and submissions ...
. Nhleko also established a multi-disciplinary
police The police are Law enforcement organization, a constituted body of Law enforcement officer, people empowered by a State (polity), state with the aim of Law enforcement, enforcing the law and protecting the Public order policing, public order ...
task force to investigate and seek to prevent political killings in South Africa, announced in June 2016.


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 Kraal (also spelled ''craal'' or ''kraul'') is an Afrikaans and Dutch language, Dutch word, also used in South African English, for an pen (enclosure), enclosure for cattle or other livestock, located within a Southern African Human settlement ...
and particularly controversial fire pool – were justifiable and even necessary security features. The National Assembly adopted Nhleko's report in August 2015, although the
Constitutional Court A constitutional court is a high court that deals primarily with constitutional law. Its main authority is to rule on whether laws that are challenged are in fact unconstitutional, i.e. whether they conflict with constitutionally established ru ...
later ruled, in ''
Economic Freedom Fighters v Speaker of the National Assembly ''Economic Freedom Fighters v Speaker of the National Assembly and Others; Democratic Alliance v Speaker of the National Assembly and Others''
Constitution A constitution is the aggregate of fundamental principles or established precedents that constitute the legal basis of a polity, organization or other type of entity, and commonly determines how that entity is to be governed. When these pri ...
in endorsing Nhleko's recommendations over those of the Public Protector. In the interim, Nhleko elaborated on his defence of Zuma in other public forums, 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". Nhleko had been viewed as part of Zuma's "inner circle" for some time, and by March 2016, '' City Press'' reported that Nhleko had become one of Zuma's "most dependable allies".


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. After the judgement was handed down, the Democratic Alliance called for Nhleko to resign. Tensions between Nhleko and McBride remained. In December 2018, after Nhleko had left the ministry, McBride alleged in an affidavit to the
Zondo Commission The Judicial Commission of Inquiry into Allegations of State Capture, Corruption and Fraud in the Public Sector including Organs of State, better known as the Zondo Commission or State Capture Commission, was a public inquiry established in Ja ...
that Nhleko had been involved in the establishment of 16-member covert
paramilitary A paramilitary is a military that is not a part of a country's official or legitimate armed forces. The Oxford English Dictionary traces the use of the term "paramilitary" as far back as 1934. Overview Though a paramilitary is, by definiti ...
squad, recruited in 2016 and trained in the
People's Republic of China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...
. Nhleko had apparently helped the members of the squad gain employment in law enforcement agencies, including the Hawks and police crime intelligence. The ''
Daily Maverick ''Daily Maverick'' is an independent, South African, English language, online news publication and weekly print newspaper, with offices in the country's two most populous cities: Cape Town (the site of its headquarters) and Johannesburg. ...
'' said that he approached the newspaper to demand that they retract publication of McBride's allegations. 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. There had earlier been reports that Indoni had done business with Nhleko's ministry. 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."


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 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 ...
. Nhleko announced a target of creating 1.4 million job opportunities in the 2017/2018 financial year through
the department ''The Department'' is a satirical comedy on BBC Radio 4 about a secret organisation with the power to influence every aspect of your life. The show is written and performed by Chris Addison, John Oliver and Andy Zaltzman (cancelled after ...
's extended public works programme and other schemes. However, he remained in the portfolio for less than a year: on 26 February 2018, he was sacked and replaced by
Thulas Nxesi Thembelani Waltermade "Thulas" Nxesi (born 9 June 1959) is a South African politician and former trade unionist who was the Minister of Employment and Labour from May 2019 to June 2024. A representative of the African National Congress (ANC), h ...
. He was sacked by
Cyril Ramaphosa Matamela Cyril Ramaphosa (born 17 November 1952) is a South African businessman and politician serving as the 5th and current President of South Africa since 2018. A former Anti-Apartheid Movement, anti-apartheid activist and trade union leade ...
, who had recently replaced Zuma as
President of South Africa The president of South Africa is the head of state and head of government of the Republic of South Africa. The president directs the executive branch of the government and is the commander-in-chief of the South African National Defence F ...
. 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. 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.


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". The letter reserved special criticism for ANC secretary-general
Fikile Mbalula Fikile April Mbalula (born 8 April 1971) is a South African politician and current Secretary-General of the African National Congress (ANC) since December 2022. He was a cabinet minister between 2010 and 2023, most proximately as Minister of Tr ...
, who had recently disowned Nhleko's handling of Nkandlagate and whom Nhleko accused of "bankruptcy, lunacy, and defunct manner of thinking". He also criticised what he described as the ANC government's "dismantling" and privatisation of
state-owned enterprises A state-owned enterprise (SOE) is a business entity created or owned by a national or local government, either through an executive order or legislation. SOEs aim to generate profit for the government, prevent private sector monopolies, provide goo ...
. Mbalula responded to the letter by redoubling his criticism of Nhleko, Tweeting that, "Indeed our revolution did produce villains," and the ANC's KwaZulu-Natal provincial secretary, Bheki Mtolo, was quoted as having said, "It's good riddance, it's long overdue." Three weeks later, Nhleko was appointed as national organiser for former President Zuma's newly established Umkhonto we Sizwe Party (MK Party). He held that role during the party's
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 ...
campaign, and, along with Tom Moyane and Sihle Ngubane, he was a member of the party's delegation to the post-election coalition negotiations.


Personal life

Nhleko is a member of the eBuhleni faction of the Shembe Church. He married Nothando Nkomo in a traditional Shembe wedding at the
University of Zululand The University of Zululand or UNIZULU is a comprehensive tertiary educational institution north of the uThukela River in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. The university has established partnerships with schools in the United States and Europe suc ...
in November 2014, though the couple reportedly separated in 2016.


References


External links

* 1964 births Living people People from Empangeni Politicians from KwaZulu-Natal African National Congress politicians Government ministers of South Africa {{DEFAULTSORT:Nhleko, Nkosinathi Members of the National Assembly of South Africa 2014–2019 South African trade union leaders Alumni of Leeds Beckett University UMkhonto we Sizwe politicians Members of the National Assembly of South Africa 1994–1999 Members of the National Assembly of South Africa 1999–2004