20 Facts About Lassy Chiwayo

Lekota Lazarus "Lassy" Chiwayo was born on 11 October 1966 and is a South African politician, diplomat, and businessman from Mpumalanga.

Lassy Chiwayo was Mayor of Mbombela from 2008 until 2011, when he joined the diplomatic service.

Lassy Chiwayo retreated to a full-time career in business until June 2008, when he returned to front-line politics to enter the mayoral office.

Lassy Chiwayo left the mayoral office after the May 2011 local elections and was appointed as South African consul-general to Shanghai, China.

Lassy Chiwayo was recalled from that position in early 2013.

Lassy Chiwayo did not complete his prison sentence, because he was among the political prisoners released after the apartheid government signed the Pretoria Minute in August 1990.

Lassy Chiwayo was sworn in to the National Assembly on 3 July 2001, filling the casual vacancy that had arisen after Cengi Mahlalela's death; he was succeeded as provincial chief whip by Jabu Mahlangu.

However, Lassy Chiwayo did not complete the legislative term in his new seat; he retired from active politics to pursue a career in business.

In early June 2008, Lassy Chiwayo returned to front-line politics when he was elected as mayor of Mpumalanga's Mbombela Local Municipality.

Lassy Chiwayo's appointment was part of a campaign by the ANC to stabilise the municipal administration, which had been placed under curatorship in February following a series of corruption scandals related to preparations for the 2010 FIFA World Cup.

Lassy Chiwayo's campaign was supported by Boy Nobunga, Jacques Modipane, and other prominent provincial politicians, but his opponent, David Mabuza, ran on a populist "Mpumalanga First" campaign platform and attacked Chiwayo for his perceived links to urban Gauteng province.

In future years, Lassy Chiwayo remained a prominent critic and rival of Mabuza, who became provincial premier in 2009 and whom Lassy Chiwayo later described as someone who "leads the dark forces and works in the shadows".

In early 2010, several newspapers reported that Lassy Chiwayo himself appeared on at least one leaked hit list that was circulating in the province.

Lassy Chiwayo said that he was certain that Mohlala had been murdered for his campaign to uncover corruption in the Mbombela Stadium contracts, and he later said that he held Mabuza "directly or indirectly responsible".

Lassy Chiwayo said that he had called the meeting in order to address his concerns:.

In January 2011, in the run-up to the 2011 local elections, Lassy Chiwayo had announced that he had asked the ANC to allow him resign from the mayoral office in order to return to his business career.

Lassy Chiwayo attended diplomatic training in Pretoria until January 2012, when he was posted abroad; News24 reported that ANC officials Mathews Phosa and Kgalema Motlanthe had engineered the appointment.

Lassy Chiwayo said that he believed the attack was politically motivated and had been planned by rivals who wanted to "send him a message"; he said that the house had been attacked on prior occasions and that he had received "phone call threats telling me to get out of Mpumalanga".

Lassy Chiwayo implied that he had accepted the diplomatic posting precisely in order to evade such threats.

In March 2013, the Department of International Relations and Cooperation announced that Lassy Chiwayo had been recalled to South Africa to receive medical treatment.