Ronalda Nalumango

The Honourable
Ronalda Nalumango
MP
Member of the National Assembly
Incumbent
Assumed office
14 June 2024 Education. = BA degree Stellenbosch University
Personal details
Born (1978-09-27) 27 September 1978 (age 46)
CitizenshipSouth African
Political partyAfrican National Congress
SpouseVictor Nalumango
RelationsMutale Nalumango (aunt-in-law)

Ronalda Schivonne Nalumango (born 27 September 1978) is a South African politician from the Western Cape. She has represented the African National Congress (ANC) in the National Assembly of South Africa since her election in the May 2024 general election.

Formerly a local councillor in the Cape Winelands, Nalumango rose to prominence as the interim coordinator of the Western Cape branch of the ANC, a position she held between 2019 and 2023. During that time, in December 2022, she was elected to a five-year term on the ANC National Executive Committee. The election took place at the ANC's 55th National Conference, during which Nalumango also stood unsuccessfully for election as deputy secretary-general of the ANC.

Early life and political career

Born on 27 September 1978,[1] Nalumango entered politics through the Youth League of the African National Congress (ANC), serving a term on the league's national executive committee from 2011 to 2012.[2] She later represented the ANC as a local councillor in the Western Cape, both in the Cape Winelands District Municipality and in the Stellenbosch Local Municipality.[3][4] In the May 2019 general election, she stood as an ANC candidate for election to the National Assembly, but she was ranked 14th on the party list in the Western Cape constituency and, due to the ANC's poor electoral performance in the province, she did not win a seat.[5]

ANC Interim Provincial Committee: 2019–2023

Shortly after the 2019 election, the ANC's national leadership disbanded the incumbent Provincial Executive Committee of the Western Cape ANC. Thereafter, on 15 August 2019, Nalumango was appointed to the head of the 30-member interim provincial committee (IPC) that was tasked with leading the provincial party until fresh leadership elections could be held. She was appointed as coordinator of the IPC, while Lerumo Kalako served as its convenor.[6]

Nalumango and Kalako held those positions during the party's preparations for the 2021 local elections in the Western Cape. In the run-up to the elections, Kgalema Motlanthe, the head of the ANC's internal electoral committee, recommended that Nalumango should face disciplinary proceedings for alleged mismanagement of the candidate selection process and related dereliction of duty.[7] Nalumango's duties also included ex officio membership in the ANC National Executive Committee (NEC). At an NEC meeting in November 2022, News24 said that Nalumango was "among the first" to call for President Cyril Ramaphosa to step aside from his office due to the Phala Phala scandal.[8]

ANC 55th National Conference: 2022

In December 2022, as IPC coordinator Nalumango attended the ANC's 55th National Conference at Nasrec, where the party resolved to amend its constitution to create the position of ANC second deputy secretary-general. In the early hours of 18 December, Nalumango was one of two candidates nominated from the floor of the conference to stand for election to that office. She was viewed as aligned to the campaign of presidential candidate Zweli Mkhize, while her opponent, Maropene Ramokgopa, was a close ally of incumbent ANC president Ramaphosa.[9][10]

On 19 December, Ramokgopa was named as second deputy secretary-general, having received 2,373 votes against Nalumango's 1,948.[11][12] However, the conference elected Nalumango to a five-year term as an ordinary member of the NEC; by number of votes received, she was ranked 66th of the 80 ordinary members elected, receiving 1,067 votes across 4,029 ballots.[13]

At the NEC's first meeting in February 2023, Nalumango was elected as convenor of the NEC's delegation to the party's provincial structures in the Northern Cape.[14] The Cape Argus reported that she would resign from the Western Cape IPC in order to take up her duties in the ANC's national leadership.[15]

National Assembly: 2024–present

Ahead of the May 2024 general election, Nalumango stood as an ANC candidate, ranked 29th on the party's national list.[1] She was elected to a seat in the National Assembly, the lower house of the South African Parliament.[5]

Personal life

She is married to Victor Nalumango, who is the nephew by marriage of Mutale Nalumango, the vice president of Zambia.[16]

References

  1. ^ a b "Final Candidate Lists for 2024 National and Provincial Elections: National Candidates" (PDF). Electoral Commission of South Africa. 10 April 2024. Retrieved 2024-03-26.
  2. ^ "Malema does it his way at league conference". The Mail & Guardian. 2011-06-18. Retrieved 2024-07-11.
  3. ^ "Cllr Ronalda Nalumango". Cape Winelands District Municipality. Retrieved 2024-07-11.
  4. ^ "Council". Stellenbosch Municipality. Retrieved 2024-07-11.
  5. ^ a b "Ronalda Schivonne Nalumango". People's Assembly. Retrieved 2024-07-11.
  6. ^ Diemen, Ethan Van (15 August 2019). "Lynne Brown, Rasool, Dramat back in the fold to take WC ANC to conference". News24. Retrieved 2024-07-11.
  7. ^ "Last-minute rejig for Western Cape ANC list as accused 'step aside'". Sunday Times. 21 September 2021. Retrieved 12 July 2024.
  8. ^ Hunter, Qaanitah (12 November 2022). "'If Phala Phala money was legitimate business why was it in a sofa and not in the bank?': NDZ lays into Ramaphosa". News24. Retrieved 2024-07-11.
  9. ^ Masuabi, Queenin (2022-12-18). "Ramaphosa's Renew22 team decides to back Mabuyane over Lamola". Daily Maverick. Retrieved 2024-07-11.
  10. ^ Merten, Marianne (2022-12-18). "Leadership nominations finalised after delays and horse-trading amid plentiful slate permutations". Daily Maverick. Retrieved 2024-07-11.
  11. ^ "Ramaphosa wins big with four allies in top seven". City Press. 19 December 2022. Retrieved 2022-12-19.
  12. ^ "Ramaphosa wins second term as ANC leader, beating Zweli Mkhize". The Mail & Guardian. 2022-12-19. Retrieved 2024-07-11.
  13. ^ "ANC NEC election results". Politicsweb. 21 December 2022. Retrieved 2023-01-03.
  14. ^ "ANC statement on the outcomes of the National Executive Committee held on 20 February 2023". African National Congress. 21 February 2023. Retrieved 2024-07-07.
  15. ^ "ANC secretary-general Fikile Mbalula expected to appoint new ANC convener in Western Cape". Cape Argus. 20 February 2023. Retrieved 12 July 2024.
  16. ^ "Zambia's VP's niece-in-law Ronalda Nalumango to be elected ANC Dep-SG-2 at the ongoing ANC's 55th elective convention at Nasrec, Gauteng, South Africa". The Zambian Observer. 2022-12-18. Retrieved 2024-07-11.