Lehlohonolo Wonderboy Mahlatsi is a South African politician who has been a member of the

National Assembly of South Africa The National Assembly is the directly elected house of the Parliament of South Africa, located in Cape Town, Western Cape. It consists of four hundred members who are elected every five years using a party-list proportional representation sy ...

since being elected in 2024. He is the leader of the

United Africans Transformation The United Africans Transformation (UAT) is a minor political party in South Africa. It was founded in November 2022 by a group of individuals who broke away from the African National Congress (ANC). The UAT is centered around Africanism, pan-Afr ...

, and sits in the South African parliament as part of the Progressive Caucus in opposition to the

Government of National Unity A national unity government, government of national unity (GNU), or national union government is a broad coalition government consisting of all parties (or all major parties) in the legislature, usually formed during a time of war or other nati ...

Political career

As leader, Mahlatsi was nominated as the lead candidate on the national list of the UAT at the 2024 general election. He was elected to the National Assembly from this list as the sole MP from the UAT, the UAT having received 0.22% of the nationwide vote. The UAT initially intended to negotiate with 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 ...

to join the Government of National Unity, however Mahlatsi withdrew from these negotiations, accusing the ANC of "acting in bad faith" by not giving him a position in the Ramaphosa cabinet. Mahlatsi identifies as

Pan-African Pan-Africanism is a nationalist movement that aims to encourage and strengthen bonds of solidarity between all indigenous peoples and diasporas of African ancestry. Based on a common goal dating back to the Atlantic slave trade, the Trans-Sa ...

, and supports land expropriation without compensation. In the parliament, Mahlatsi sits on the portfolio committees on land reform and rural development, and on agriculture. He also is a member of the Parliamentary Group on International Relations.

Personal life

Mahlatsi was raised in

Sebokeng Sebokeng () locally called Zweni by residents, is a middle-class township in the Emfuleni Local Municipality in southern Gauteng, South Africa near the industrial cities of Vanderbijlpark and Vereeniging. Other neighboring townships include Ev ...

Gauteng Gauteng ( , ; Sotho-Tswana languages, Sotho-Tswana for 'place of gold'; or ) is one of the nine provinces of South Africa. Situated on the Highveld, Gauteng is the smallest province by land area in South Africa. Although Gauteng accounts f ...

, and attended Fundulwazi Secondary School as a student. He has a PhD in criminal justice and had a career in law enforcement before his election to parliament.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mahlatsi, Wonder Members of the National Assembly of South Africa 2024–2029 Living people South African politicians Year of birth missing (living people)