Lionel Percival Hercules Mbeki Mtshali was a South African politician who was Premier of KwaZulu-Natal from 1999 to 2004.
16 Facts About Lionel Mtshali
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Lionel Percival Hercules Mtshali was born on 7 November 1935 in Vryheid, Zululand and grew up in the region that became the KwaZulu-Natal province.
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Lionel Mtshali earned a Master's degree in education from the University of the Free State and worked as a history teacher and school principal.
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In 1975, Lionel Mtshali was among the founding members of Inkatha, later known as the Inkatha Freedom Party.
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Lionel Mtshali became a school inspector and was appointed Chief Inspector in the KwaZulu homeland's Department of Education in 1984; he was later appointed Minister of Education and Culture in the KwaZulu government.
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In South Africa's first democratic elections in 1994, Lionel Mtshali was elected to the National Assembly as a member of the IFP.
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Lionel Mtshali was national chairman of the IFP between 1997 and 2004.
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Lionel Mtshali was sworn in as Premier of KwaZulu-Natal on 10 February 1999, again succeeding Ben Ngubane.
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Lionel Mtshali was reportedly hand-picked for the position by Mangosuthu Buthelezi, with whom he was close.
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However, the coalition was negotiated between the two parties at the national level, and Lionel Mtshali was among a group within the IFP which reportedly opposed the agreement and lobbied the national IFP leadership to end the coalition.
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In 2002, Lionel Mtshali unilaterally fired two ANC Members of the Executive Council, earning the ire of his coalition partner.
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Lionel Mtshali decided unilaterally that all business of the KwaZulu-Natal government would be conducted in Ulundi, an IFP stronghold; the decision met strong resistance from the ANC and the Democratic Alliance.
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In 2001, when the Treatment Action Campaign sued the government in an attempt to force it to expand its mother-to-child transmission prevention programme, Lionel Mtshali backed the lawsuit.
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Lionel Mtshali remained in office as Premier until 23 April 2004, when the ANC took control of the province in the 2004 general election.
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Lionel Mtshali died at Westville Hospital in Durban after a short illness related to a heart condition.
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Lionel Mtshali was survived by his wife, Daphne, and four children.