Tandi Mahambehlala MP | |
|---|---|
| Deputy Minister of Human Settlements | |
| Assumed office 3 July 2024 | |
| Chairperson of thePortfolio Committee on Tourism | |
| In office 7 September 2021 – 2024 | |
| Preceded by | Supra Mahumapelo |
| Chairperson of thePortfolio Committee on International Relations and Cooperation | |
| In office 2 July 2019 – 27 August 2021 | |
| Preceded by | Moses Masango |
| Succeeded by | Supra Mahumapelo |
| Deputy Minister of Communications | |
| In office 31 March 2017 – 26 February 2018 | |
| Member of the National Assembly of South Africa | |
| Assumed office 21 May 2014 | |
| Constituency | Western Cape (2014–2019) National List (2019–present) |
| Personal details | |
| Party | African National Congress |
| Alma mater | University of the Western Cape |
| Profession | Politician |
Tandi Mahambehlala is a South African politician who has served as the Deputy Minister of Human Settlements since 3 July 2024. She was the Chairperson of thePortfolio Committee on Tourism from 2021. A member of theAfrican National Congress (ANC), she served as the Chairperson of thePortfolio Committee on International Relations and Cooperation from 2019 to 2021. Mahambehlala was Deputy Minister of Communications between 2017 and 2018. She has been a Member of Parliament since 2014.
Mahambehlala served on theStudents' Representative Council of Msobomvu High School from 1988 to 1990. She earned an advanced diploma inPublic Administration in 2014 and anhonours degree in Public Administration from theUniversity of the Western Cape in 2016. In 2017, Mahambehlala began studying for a Master of Public Administration through UWC. She also holds certificates in Audio-Visual Communications, Community Profiling and Community Needs Assessment and Programme Design and Presentation.[1]
In 2005, Mahambehlala was involved with the establishment of the Western Cape Youth Commission. She was anAfrican National Congress Youth League (ANCYL) branch secretary and the deputy secretary of the league's Dullah Omar Region from 2004 to 2008. From 2005 to 2008, she worked as a community developer for theCity of Cape Town's Department of Social Development. In 2008, she was elected as the provincial secretary of theAfrican National Congress in theWestern Cape, a position she held until 2011. From 2011 to 2014, Mahambehlala worked forEskom as a senior advisor responsible for Stakeholder Relations.[1]
Mahambehlala stood as an ANC parliamentary candidate from theWestern Cape in the2014 national elections, and was subsequently elected to theNational Assembly and sworn in on 21 May 2014.[2] She was then appointed to parliamentary portfolio committees on energy, small business development, and telecommunications and postal services.[1]
In March 2017, she was appointed as the Deputy Minister of Communications by presidentJacob Zuma.[3] She held the position until 26 February 2018, when newly elected presidentCyril Ramaphosa announced his cabinet.[1]
Mahambehlala stood for re-election at 49th on the ANC's national list in the2019 national elections and was re-elected.[4] She was then elected as the chair of thePortfolio Committee on International Relations and Cooperation.[5] During her time as chair of the committee, Mahambehlala was critical of International Relations MinisterNaledi Pandor's inaction against officials implicated in the controversial purchase of a dilapidated building in New York for R118 million, telling Pandor during a committee meeting in February 2021: "You must spare yourself from self-importance — your utterances, I find them very arrogant."[6]
On 26 August 2021, the ANC announced that Mahambehlala would swap positions withSupra Mahumapelo, the chairperson of thePortfolio Committee on Tourism.[7] She stepped down as chair of the portfolio committee on international relations and cooperation on 27 August 2021. On 7 September 2021, she was voted in as chairperson of the Portfolio Committee on Tourism, replacing Mahumapelo.[8]
In December 2022, Mahambehlala was one of five ANC MPs who defied the party's instruction to vote against the adoption on the Section 89 Panel report on whether sufficient evidence exists to show that PresidentCyril Ramaphosa committed a serious violation of the Constitution or law or committed a serious misconduct amid the2020 Phala Phala Robbery, but before voting closed Mahambehlala attempted to change her vote. The ANC has responded by saying that disciplinary action will be taken against them.[9]