Mkhuleko Hlengwa

Mkhuleko Hlengwa (born 12 June 1987) is a South African politician who is currently serving as the Deputy Minister of Transport since July 2024.

[3] His father, Mhlabunzima Hlengwa, was a Zulu traditional leader in the region and represented the Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP) in Parliament from 1994 to 2004.

[5][6] During his first six months as Youth Brigade chairperson, Hlengwa threatened to make eThekwini "ungovernable" in protest of Mayor James Nxumalo's decision to rename the Mangosuthu Highway to honour Griffiths Mxenge; until then, the road had been named after long-serving IFP president Mangosuthu Buthelezi.

[9] On 8 May 2012, Hlengwa was sworn in to an IFP seat in the National Assembly, the lower house of the South African Parliament.

[17] His remarks were criticised on social media; Vusi Dube labelled them "stupid" and Jomo Sibiya lamented his "impoverished" thinking.

[16] Hlengwa was appointed as national spokesperson of the IFP in July 2018, a promotion which observers said signalled that he was being groomed for higher office.

[20] In the aftermath of the election, on 21 June 2019, the IFP announced that it had been invited by the governing African National Congress (ANC) to take over the chair of SCOPA.

[27] Upon taking up the SCOPA chair, Hlengwa committed to enforcing accountability for state capture through Parliament's subpoena power, an alliance with the Auditor-General, refusal to "walk on eggshells", and possible legislative change.

[24] However, his critics, such as activist Zackie Achmat, said that under Hlengwa's leadership SCOPA underperformed in investigating state capture.

"[33] After meeting with the IFP's national leadership on the matter, Hlengwa released a statement apologising to Mavuso and acknowledging that "the situation could have been handled better".

[34] In the May 2024 general election, Hlengwa was re-elected to his parliamentary seat, again ranked third on the IFP's national party list.