Naledi Chirwa-Mpungose | |
|---|---|
.jpg) Chirwa in 2024 | |
| Member of the National Assembly | |
| Assumed office 11 June 2025 | |
| Permanent Delegate to the National Council of Provinces | |
| In office 15 June 2024 – 11 June 2025 | |
| Member of the National Assembly | |
| In office 22 May 2019 – 21 May 2024 | |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Naledi Nokukhanya Chirwa (1993-07-22)22 July 1993 (age 32) |
| Political party | Economic Freedom Fighters(2015–present) |
| Children | 2 |
| Alma mater | University of Pretoria |
| Occupation | Member of Parliament |
| Profession | Politician |
Naledi Nokukhanya Chirwa-Mpungose (born 22 July 1993) is a South African politician and former student activist fromGauteng. She represents theEconomic Freedom Fighters (EFF) in theNational Assembly. She was formerly a member of theNational Assembly between May 2019 and June 2024. She had a short stint in theNational Council of Provinces before being redeployed to theNational Assembly to replaceMbuyiseni Ndlozi. She rose to prominence through her involvement in the#FeesMustFall student protests at theUniversity of Pretoria between 2015 and 2016.
Chirwa was born on 22 July 1993 inVosloorus,East Rand, inGauteng.[1] She was raised by her grandmother inMamelodi,Pretoria.[1] In 2009, aged 15, she served as the deputy president of the Tshwane North College (TNC) Further Education & Training (FET), now TNC TVET.[1]
Chirwa earned aBachelor of Arts and aHonours degree in Drama and Film Studies at theUniversity of Pretoria. As of 2019 she was pursuing aMaster of Arts in Theatre and Performance at theUniversity of the Witwatersrand.[2]
She joined theEconomic Freedom Fighters (EFF) in 2015 and became a member of the party's Student Command at the University of Pretoria. She was appointed as the command's communications officer.[1] In August 2016, during former presidentJacob Zuma's speech at theIEC election centre following the2016 municipal elections, Chirwa and three other student activists disrupted his speech while holding up signs reading "Khanga", "RememberKhwezi", "I am 1 in 3" and "10 yrs later", in reference toZuma's rape trial of the mid-2000s.[3][4]
Also in 2016, Chirwa was involved in student protests relating to the#FeesMustFall movement. She was later arrested and suspended on campus as part of her bail conditions.[5] In 2017, she was one of theMail & Guardian's 200 Young South Africans.[6]
In theMay 2019 general election, she was elected to theNational Assembly of South Africa and became the EFF's youngestMember of Parliament. She was sworn in alongside other student activists, includingPeter Keetse,Nompendulo Mkhatshwa andVuyani Pambo.[7] She was a member of Parliament'sPortfolio Committee on Health.[8]
On 25 June 2019, she delivered hermaiden speech during theState of the Nation Address debate. She was forced to withdraw a comment about the government being complicit in the murders of #FeesMustFall activists.[9][10] In January 2022, shetrended onTwitter for calling PresidentCyril Ramaphosa "toothless" and a "weak little boy".[11]
From around 2020, Chirwa was subject to social media attacks from anonymous users who claimed without substantiation that she was aMalawian national and that her family had fraudulently obtainedSouth African citizenship.[12] In January 2022, she responded to the allegations bytweeting: "You can lie to yourselves about my nationality until you turn green in the buttocks. It will not make your lies the truth and neither will it ever silence me. I didn't buy my voice. I'm not renting it either. Rest assured, I will always speak and there's nothing you can do about it."[13]
In March 2024, Chirwa was absent from a parliamentary vote in order to care for her unwell child. The EFF fined her and instructed her to apologise.[14][15] Shortly afterwards, the EFF released its list of candidates for theupcoming general election, which listed Chirwa in last place.[16][17] EFF leaderJulius Malema said that her demotion was the result of a democratic party process.[18]
In the May 2024 general election, Chirwa was elected to represent the EFF in theGauteng delegation to theNational Council of Provinces, the upper house of the South African Parliament. She was sworn in to her seat on 15 June 2024.[19]
Chirwa has been married since October 2022. Following the marriage, she officially changed her last name.[20][21] She has two children, one of whom was born in 2021 and the other one born in 2023.[22]
