Lindiwe Mazibuko
| Lindiwe Mazibuko | |
|---|---|
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| Leader of the Opposition in the National Assembly of South Africa | |
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In office 27 October 2011 – 6 May 2014 |
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| Leader | Helen Zille |
| Preceded by | Athol Trollip |
| Succeeded by | Mmusi Maimane |
| Member of Parliament for North Durban, KwaZulu-Natal |
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In office 6 May 2009 – 21 May 2014 |
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| Personal details | |
| Born | 9 April 1980 |
| Nationality | South African |
| Political party | Democratic Alliance |
| Alma mater |
University of Cape Town University of KwaZulu-Natal Harvard University |
| Website | www |
Lindiwe Mazibuko (born 9 April 1980) is a South African politician, musician and the former Parliamentary Leader for the opposition Democratic Alliance (DA). She was varyingly labelled a "rising star in Parliament" and a possible future DA leader. She was elected the new DA parliamentary leader on 27 October 2011, beating incumbent Athol Trollip in a tight race, becoming the first non-white person to lead the Democratic Alliance in parliament.
Mazibuko resigned from her position as DA Parliamentary Leader in 2014, to study at Harvard University in the United States for a year. She stated that her resignation had nothing to do with differences within the DA, but that it would improve what she could offer the party politically. It does appear, however, that there was a serious and fundamental tension between her and party leader Helen Zille that led to her departure. Zille stated that Mazibuko knew she would lose the election for Parliamentary Leader, calling her move to Harvard "plan B". She became less popular towards the end of her tenure, and was described as arrogant and autocratic by members in the DA's caucus in Parliament.
In May 2015, she graduated from Harvard University with a master's degree in Public Administration. She is currently a resident fellow at the Harvard Institute of Politics.
Lindiwe Mazibuko was born on 9 April 1980 in Swaziland into a mixed-race family. At the age of six she moved to KwaZulu-Natal with her parents. Her father was a banker and her mother a nurse.
Mazibuko grew up in Durban and matriculated at St Mary’s DSG in Kloof in 1997. She pursued a Bachelor of Music at the University of KwaZulu-Natal and then moved on to obtaining a BA (French, Classics, Media & Writing) at the University of Cape Town in 2006 and a BA Honours (Political Communication) in 2007.
Mazibuko’s career in politics started when she decided to write her honours dissertation on Helen Zille at the time when Zille took over leadership of the Democratic Alliance (DA) from Tony Leon. Mazibuko spent time doing research into Zille’s tenure as Mayor of Cape Town and DA Leader, as well as into the DA's policies and programmes of action. She found them to be very much in agreement with her own ideologies and political vision for South Africa.
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