Phumzile Harriet Mbatha-Cele is a South African politician who has represented the African National Congress (ANC) in the KwaZulu-Natal Provincial Legislature since August 2016.
[1] She was the Mayor of Newcastle[2] in Amajuba until May 2007, when opposition parties in the Newcastle council collaborated to remove her and her deputy from office; she was replaced by Mercy Dube of the Inkatha Freedom Party.
[4] She was still in that office on 29 August 2016, when she sworn in as a Member of the KwaZulu-Natal Provincial Legislature; she filled a casual vacancy created by the resignation of Makhosini Nkosi, who became Mayor of Newcastle after the 2016 local elections.
[1] In May 2018, Mbatha-Cele was elected Deputy Regional Chairperson of the ANC in eMalahleni, deputising Ntuthuko Mahlaba.
[6] However, in September 2021, she was succeeded as ANC Deputy Regional Chairperson by Phumzile Mgcina.