[1] She was formerly the Deputy Mayor of Umhlathuze Local Municipality[2][3] and she was sworn in to an ANC seat in the National Assembly in November 2010.
[3] She was re-elected to her first full term in Parliament in the 2014 general election, ranked third on the ANC's regional party list for KwaZulu-Natal.
[7] In addition, she was elected to three consecutive five-year terms as a member of the Central Committee of the South African Communist Party, in 2012,[8] 2017, and 2022.
[9] She was married to Bonginkosi Elphas Madlopha, a Christian minister and a local leader in the ANC and the South African National Civic Organisation.
[10] He died in February 2014 shortly after he and his wife arrived in Cape Town for the 2014 State of the Nation Address.