Zwakele Maxwell Mncwango is a South African politician. He is currently serving as a Member of the KwaZulu-Natal Legislature. He previously served as the Leader of the Opposition in the KwaZulu-Natal Legislature from 2018 to 2019. He is the Provincial Leader of the KwaZulu-Natal Democratic Alliance, elected in 2015 and re-elected in 2018. Mncwango was the party's KwaZulu-Natal Premier candidate for the 2019 election.
Early life and education
Mncwango was born in the town of Nongoma in the Natal. His father worked as a security guard in Durban, while his mother was a trader in Nongoma. His father is also a polygamist and has eighteen children. Mncwango is his youngest child. Mncwango herded cattle in his formative years. He started to get involved in politics at a young age. His uncle, Albert Mncwango, is a member of the Inkatha Freedom Party and currently the party's Deputy National Chairman. His family often attended the party's rallies in Nongoma. Mncwango's older brother paid his school fees so that he could attend King Bhezulu High School. After he graduated from high school, Mncwango moved to Durban to fulfil his tertiary studies. He has achieved a National Diploma in Electrical Engineering and a Bachelor of Technology in Engineering Management from the Durban University of Technology. He recently received a master's degree in Business Administration from the University of KwaZulu-Natal. He has also finished a course on Strategic Planning and a Political Leadership course at the International Academy for Leadership in Germany. In 2014, he graduated from the Graduate School in the United States after he fulfilled a course on Good Governance and Transparency.
Political career
Mncwango joined the Democratic Alliance in 2002 after he studied all of the major political parties in KwaZulu-Natal. His family was surprised when he announced his choice of political affiliation since they were all supporters of the Inkatha Freedom Party. He became a member of the KwaZulu-Natal Youth Parliament in 2006. Mncwango has held various leadership roles in the Democratic Alliance including, vice-chair of a branch, member of the Constituency Executive, Youth Leader of the KwaZulu-Natal Democratic Alliance and also Provincial Vice-Chairperson of the party. He was elected an eThekwini municipality councillor for the Democratic Alliance in May 2011. He was appointed the leader of the party's caucus in March 2012, succeeding Tex Collins. In 2015, he declared his candidacy for the post of Provincial Leader of the Democratic Alliance. He won the election on 25 April 2015 at the party's provincial congress. He unseated incumbent Sizwe Mchunu by a margin of only seven votes. In 2016, the party selected Haniff Hoosen over Mncwango to be the party's eThekwini mayoral candidate. The party later announced that it had reversed its decision. At the council's inaugural sitting, Mncwango lost to Zandile Gumede of the African National Congress. Gumede received 124 votes compared to Mncwango's 87 votes. In February 2018, Mncwango won re-election to a second term as Provincial Leader of the party, after he defeated Sizakele Emmanuel Mhlongo. In March 2018, he resigned as an eThekwini Municipality councillor and as leader of the Democratic Alliance caucus. Nicole Graham succeeded him as eThekwini DA caucus leader. Mncwango took office as a Member of the KwaZulu-Natal Legislature in the same month and consequently became the leader of the party's caucus in the KwaZulu-Natal Legislature in June 2018, succeeding Francois Rodgers. In September 2018, National Leader of the Democratic Alliance, Mmusi Maimane, announced Mncwango as the party's KwaZulu-Natal Premier candidate. Following the May 2019 election, the Inkatha Freedom Party unseated the Democratic Alliance as the official opposition in the provincial legislature, however, the Democratic Alliance did manage to grow its support from ten to eleven seats.
