Obed Mlaba

Obed Mlaba
Obed Mlaba SA High Commissioner to the United Kingdom
South African High Commissioner to the United Kingdom
Incumbent
Assumed office February 2014
President	Jacob Zuma
Preceded by	Zola Skweyiya
Mayor of Durban
In office 1996–2012
Preceded by	Mike Lipschitz
Succeeded by	James Nxumalo
Personal details
Born	Obed Mlaba 1943 (age 74) Estcourt, KwaZulu-Natal
Political party	African National Congress
Spouse(s)	Nomfundo Audrey

Obed Thembinkosi Mlaba, born in 1943 is the current High Commissioner of South Africa to the United Kingdom, the sixth since 1994. He is a former mayor of Durban, one of the biggest and commercially active cities of South Africa.

Mlaba was born near Estcourt, KwaZulu-Natal to Japhet and Garlina Mlaba and was one of three children and the only boy. He went to Inchanga Primary School and then St Augustine where he obtained his matric. He holds BA in Administration and an MBA.

He grew up in the apartheid era and the events of that period heavily influenced his views and expectations. He developed keen political awareness and became a member of the African National Congress, ANC when it was unbanned in 1990.

Mlaba started as social worker in a government department before moving into the private sector where he has held positions that include personnel officer, industrial relations specialist as well as senior managerial positions in business development. In the process he has worked for some of the biggest companies in South Africa such as Grinrod and Co, South African Breweries and Eskom, the energy giant.

Over the years he has also been involved in the retail and groceries sector and became an entrepreneur, building his own supermarket chain.

Throughout his career, he has sat on a number of boards; Thekwini Business Development Centre, South African Breweries, Osri Telecommunications and others. In 1994/95 he was chair of the Durban Metropolitan Council During this time he was active member of the team tasked with the development and drafting of local government legislation.

In 1995 he became the chairman of the KwaZulu Natal Local Government Association and deputy chairman of the national equivalent, the South African Local Government Association, SALGA.

Mlaba was elected the first mayor of Durban or as it is known in South Africa, Ethekwini Metropolitan Municipality in 1996 after the transition to multiparty democracy. Durban is the third largest city in South Africa with the busiest port in the whole of Africa.

During his three terms of office, some major developments involving flagship infrastructure projects were commissioned or completed. These include the “ambitious social realignment programme” in the KwaMashu Town Centre Upgrade, the South Durban Basin Hub, the expansion of the Harbour whose capacity was now being stretched to the limit, the development of the River Horse Valley Business Estate, a development that was designed to provide this strategic infrastructure linking major residential and business townships, restructuring the colonial and apartheid urban landscape. He was also the mayor who oversaw the infrastructural development geared towards the staging of 2010 FIFA world cup competition. These are just but a few major ones from the numerous projects and developments that were commissioned during his terms in office.