Zakhele Mbhele (born 9 November 1984) is a South African politician. A Member of Parliament of theDemocratic Alliance in the National Assembly, Mbhele served as Media Liaison Officer for Western Cape PremierHelen Zille from November 2011 to May 2014.[1] In the2014 general election, Mbhele was elected to parliament and served till 2024.
Mbhele is openly gay, making him the first openly gay Black member of parliament.[2][3][4] He is one of a number of openly LGBT members of parliament, alongside fellow DA MPsMike Waters andIan Ollis. While attendingUniversity of Witwatersrand, he led ACTIVATE, the university’s LGBT campus group,[5] and later served on the board ofJoburg Pride. He was cited by theMail & Guardian as one of "Top 200 Young South Africans" for his Civil Society work in 2010.[6]