Nomasikizi Konza

Nomasikizi Hendrietta Konza is a South African politician who has represented the African National Congress (ANC) in the Eastern Cape Provincial Legislature since 2019. She was the Mayor of Amathole District Municipality from 2011 until 2016, when she was charged with defrauding the municipality; she was acquitted of all charges in March 2019, shortly before she was elected to the provincial legislature.

Nomasikizi Konza
MPL
Member of the Eastern Cape Provincial Legislature
Assumed office
22 May 2019
Mayor of Amathole
In office
2011–2016
Preceded bySakhumzi Somyo
Succeeded byKhanyile Maneli
Personal details
CitizenshipSouth Africa
Political partyAfrican National Congress

Early life and career

Konza was born in 1962 on a farm in Cathcart near the Kei River in the former Cape Province.[1] A teacher by training, she was a founding member of the South African Democratic Teachers Union and was active in the anti-apartheid Mass Democratic Movement.[1]

Political career

From 1995 to 2019, she represented the ANC as a local councillor in the Eastern Cape. She was the Deputy Mayor of the Cathcart Transitional Local Council from 1995 to 2000 and then served as a Member of the Mayoral Committee in Amahlathi Local Municipality from 2000 to 2006. In August 2010, she was elected Speaker of the Amahlathi council after several other ANC councillors defected to the opposition Congress of the People.[1]

The following year, after the 2011 local elections, she succeeded Samkhumzi Somyo as Executive Mayor of the Amatole District Municipality.[1][2] She remained in office until 2016 but was not re-elected in the next elections in 2016.

Fraud trial: 2016–2018

Months before the 2016 elections, in late May 2016, Konza and several others were arrested on fraud charges;[3] she was released on R15,000 bail.[4] The Hawks alleged that she and other municipal officials had stolen over R2.5 million in municipal funds that had been paid out in 2014 and 2015 on the pretence of sponsoring Miss Amathole Heritage, a local beauty pageant.[5] During the trial, the National Prosecuting Authority argued that she had "bullied" officials into authorising the payments.[6] However, she and others were acquitted on all three counts of fraud in May 2019.[6][7]

Provincial legislature: 2019–present

In the 2019 general election, Konza was elected to an ANC seat in the Eastern Cape Provincial Legislature, ranked 20th on the ANC's provincial party list.[8]

Personal life

Konza has been widowed since 1994; she has two children and a grandson.[1]

References
  1. "Profile of the Executive Mayor". Amathole District Municipality. Retrieved 15 February 2023.
  2. "Former mayor bares soul in book". Dispatch. 27 October 2018. Retrieved 2023-02-15.
  3. Ngcukana, Lubabalo (29 May 2016). "Another ANC mayor arrested for fraud". City Press. Retrieved 2023-02-15.
  4. Sesant, Siyabonga (25 May 2016). "'Money stolen by Amathole mayor was meant to fund beauty pageant'". EWN. Retrieved 2023-02-15.
  5. "Police on arrest of Amathole Mayor, Nomasikizi Khonza". South African Government. 24 May 2016. Retrieved 2023-02-15.
  6. "Joy as Konza acquitted of fraud". Herald. 30 March 2019. Retrieved 2023-02-15.
  7. "Former mayor not guilty of 'bullying officials' in R2.5m beauty pageant fraud case". Dispatch. 29 March 2019. Retrieved 2023-02-15.
  8. "Nomasikizi Hendrietta Konza". People's Assembly. Retrieved 2023-02-15.
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