Bongiwe Nomusa Sithole-Moloi is a South African politician who served as KwaZulu-Natal's Member of the Executive Council for Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs from February 2023 until June 2024.
17 Facts About Bongi Sithole-Moloi
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Bongi Sithole-Moloi represented the African National Congress in the KwaZulu-Natal Provincial Legislature from 2014 until May 2024.
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Bongi Sithole-Moloi gained political prominence as the Mayor of Umgungundlovu District Municipality from 2000 to 2008; she was removed from that position in a vote of no-confidence supported by her own party.
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Bongi Sithole-Moloi became active in the ANC in the Natal Midlands in the early 1990s, and she represented the party as the Mayor of Umgungundlovu between 2000 and 2008.
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Bongi Sithole-Moloi was removed from the mayoral office by her own party in a vote of no-confidence in 2008.
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Bongi Sithole-Moloi's removal was reportedly related to allegations of corruption and maladministration, including the accusation that R1.5 million in municipal funds had been misappropriated and channelled to businessman Lucky Moloi, whom she later married.
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In 2009, Bongi Sithole-Moloi was appointed head of the directorate for dispute resolution in the provincial Department of Local Government, then under MEC Mike Mabuyakhulu.
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The provincial government denied this charge, saying that Bongi Sithole-Moloi had applied for the post after the vacancy was advertised publicly.
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Sources told IOL that Bongi Sithole-Moloi owed the promotion to her loyalty to Sihle Zikalala, then the ANC's Provincial Chairperson in KwaZulu-Natal; Bongi Sithole-Moloi had apparently begun to support Zikalala after 2008, when her removal from the mayoral office strained her relationship with Senzo Mchunu, her former ally and Zikalala's rival and predecessor.
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Bongi Sithole-Moloi remained in office as MEC for Arts and Culture until the 2019 general election, in which she was re-elected to her legislative seat, ranked 30th on the ANC's party list.
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Bongi Sithole-Moloi was retained in that position by Zikalala's successor, Premier Nomusa Dube-Ncube.
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In 2022, Bongi Sithole-Moloi was named as a possible candidate for election to a top leadership position in the provincial ANC.
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Bongi Sithole-Moloi was nominated to stand for the position of ANC Deputy Provincial Secretary by the KwaZulu-Natal branch of the ANC Women's League and by local party branches in Zululand.
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On 7 February 2023, following Sihle Zikalala's resignation from the provincial legislature, Premier Dube-Ncube effected a minor cabinet reshuffle in which Bongi Sithole-Moloi replaced Zikalala as MEC for Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs.
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Bongi Sithole-Moloi left the provincial legislature and the provincial government in 2024.
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Bongi Sithole-Moloi was divorced from Inkosi Zibuse Mlaba, an ANC politician and the former KwaXimba regent.
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Bongi Sithole-Moloi subsequently married businessman and politician Lucky Moloi, who is a former Regional Secretary and Regional Chairperson of the ANC's Inkosi Bhambatha branch in Umzinyathi.