Mondli Abednego Chiliza is a South African politician who has been representing the African National Congress (ANC) in the KwaZulu-Natal Provincial Legislature since 2019. He was formerly the Mayor of Ugu District Municipality from 2017 to 2019, and in April 2022 he was elected as Regional Chairperson of the ANC's Lower South Coast branch in KwaZulu-Natal.

Mondli Chiliza
Member of the KwaZulu-Natal Provincial Legislature
Assumed office
22 May 2019
Mayor of Ugu
In office
29 March 2017 – 22 May 2019
Preceded byTolomane Mnyayiza
Succeeded bySizwe Ngcobo
Personal details
CitizenshipSouth Africa
Political partyAfrican National Congress

Political career

edit

Chiliza was Deputy Mayor of Ugu under Mayor Tolomane Mnyayiza, who died in December 2016; Chiliza was elected to succeed him on 29 March 2017.[1][2] Later that year, he reportedly supported Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma's unsuccessful bid to be elected ANC President at the party's 54th National Conference.[3][4]

He remained in the mayoral office until the 2019 general election, when he was elected to a seat in the KwaZulu-Natal Provincial Legislature, ranked 31st on the ANC's provincial party list.[5][6] He was succeeded as Mayor by Sizwe Ngcobo.[7]

On 3 April 2022, at a party elective conference, Chiliza was elected Regional Chairperson of the ANC's Lower South Coast regional branch, beating Phumlile Mthiyane, the incumbent Mayor of Ugu, in a vote.[8] He and his new deputy, Skhumbuzo "Zero" Mqadi, denied rumours that they were politically aligned to former ANC President Jacob Zuma and ANC presidential candidate Zweli Mkhize.[9][10]

Personal life

edit

Chiliza's 13-year-old daughter died in April 2022, the same week that he was elected ANC Regional Chairperson; she was reportedly struck by lightning.[3]

References

edit
  1. ^ "New Ugu District Municipality Mayor Sworn In". Ugu District Municipality. 29 May 2017. Retrieved 25 January 2023.
  2. ^ "New Ugu District Municipality Mayor Sworn In". Rising Sun Mid South Coast. 29 March 2017. Retrieved 25 January 2023.
  3. ^ a b Phungula, Willem (11 April 2022). "Harry Gwala chair's re-election a 'boost for Zweli Mkhize's ANC presidential ambitions'". IOL. Retrieved 25 January 2023.
  4. ^ Ndou, Clive (5 April 2022). "ANC in KZN Lower South Coast 'not in RET camp'". Witness. Retrieved 25 January 2023.
  5. ^ "Mondli Abednego Chiliza". People's Assembly. Retrieved 25 January 2023.
  6. ^ "Ugu mayor moves on". South Coast Herald. 30 May 2019. Retrieved 25 January 2023.
  7. ^ Erasmus, Des (29 October 2021). "Decaying Ugu District: Mayor says protests alert municipalities to service delivery challenges in KZN's South Coast". Daily Maverick. Retrieved 25 January 2023.
  8. ^ "No post-mortem for KZN mayor despite poisoning claim". MSN. 2023. Retrieved 25 January 2023.
  9. ^ "'We owe our allegiance to the ANC'". Daily Sun. 5 April 2022. Retrieved 25 January 2023.
  10. ^ Hunter, Qaanitah (4 April 2022). "'We are not RET' – newly elected ANC regional leaders in KZN lower South Coast deny Zuma support". News24. Retrieved 25 January 2023.
edit