Thamsanqa Mabhena

Thamsanqa (Thami) Bhekokwakhe Mabhena (1 June 1990) is a South African politician. He is currently the Shadow Deputy Minister of Transport and a Member of Parliament (MP) for the opposition Democratic Alliance (DA).

Thamsanqa Mabhena
MP
Shadow Deputy Minister of Transport
Assumed office
5 June 2019
LeaderMmusi Maimane
John Steenhuisen
Preceded byChris Hunsinger
Member of the National Assembly of South Africa
Assumed office
22 May 2019
Personal details
Born (1990-06-01) 1 June 1990
NationalitySouth African
Political partyDemocratic Alliance
OccupationMember of Parliament
ProfessionPolitician
CommitteesPortfolio Committee On Transport

Political career

In 2008, Mabhena formed part of the establishment of the Democratic Alliance branch in his village in Mpumalanga.[1] He was then appointed the founding DA Youth representative.[1] Mabhena was the transport coordinator of the DA's Dr JS Moroka Constituency for the 2009 general election and became a member of the DA Youth provincial council later that same year. In 2010, Mabhena was appointed as the secretary for the Dr JS Moroka Constituency.[1] He was elected deputy chairperson of the DA Youth in the constituency in 2012.[1]

Mabhena then moved to Gauteng. In 2014, Mabhena was appointed the youth representative of the DA's Hlanganani constituency in Johannesburg.[1] He became the constituency officer of the party's Johannesburg Central constituency and was named the DA's Johannesburg regional coordinator responsible for telecanvassing in 2015. Between 2015 and the August 2016 municipal elections, he was the logistics events coordinator of Herman Mashaba's mayoral campaign. Mabhena was elected as a DA PR councillor in the City of Johannesburg at the elections.[1] He was elected chairperson of the Hlanganani constituency in 2017.[1]

Parliamentary career

Mabhena stood for election to the National Assembly of South Africa at the May 2019 general election as a candidate on the DA's national list.[2] He entered the National Assembly as the DA retained its position as the official opposition.[3][4] On 5 June 2019, he was appointed Shadow Deputy Minister of Transport.[5] On 2 July 2019, Mabhena nominated Shadow Transport Minister Chris Hunsinger to become chairperson of the Portfolio Committee on Transport after saying that it is important that they "have a chairperson with integrity." Hunsinger lost to Mosebenzi Zwane, a former Free State MEC for Agriculture, who is also accused of state capture.[6]

In November 2020, Mabhena called on the national minister of transport, Fikile Mbalula, to "step off Twitter" and deal with his department and the processing of COVID-19 relief funds to the taxi industry.[7] He remained as Shadow Deputy Minister of Transport in the Shadow Cabinet of John Steenhuisen.[8]

References
  1. "Thamsanqa Bhekokwakhe Mabhena". People's Assembly. Retrieved 23 January 2021.
  2. Selfe, James (16 March 2019). "#DALists: One South Africa for All in action". Democratic Alliance. Retrieved 23 January 2021.
  3. "SEE: These are the people who will represent you in Parliament, provincial legislatures". News24. 15 May 2019. Retrieved 23 January 2021.
  4. "Who's nominated for the National Assembly & provincial legislatures?". Eyewitness News. 15 May 2019. Retrieved 23 January 2021.
  5. Gerber, Jan (5 June 2019). "Here's the DA's 'shadow cabinet'". News24. Retrieved 23 January 2021.
  6. Van Diemen, Ethan; Gerber, Jan (2 July 2019). "DA fails in bid to stop controversial ANC MPs from becoming committee chairs". News24. Retrieved 23 January 2021.
  7. Nkanjeni, Unathi (20 November 2020). "Step off Twitter and assist the taxi industry': DA's Thamsanqa Mabhena slams Fikile Mbalula". TimesLIVE. Retrieved 23 January 2021.
  8. "DA announces new Shadow Cabinet that will bring Real Hope and Real Change". Democratic Alliance. Retrieved 5 February 2020.
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