Yusuf Suleman Bhamjee was a South African politician, academic, and anti-apartheid activist who represented the African National Congress in the KwaZulu-Natal Legislature from 1994 until 2004 and then the National Assembly between 2004 and 2007 when he returned to the provincial legislature.
13 Facts About Yusuf Bhamjee
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Yusuf Bhamjee resigned from the provincial legislature in 2008 to become the Mayor of the uMgungundlovu District Municipality in KwaZulu-Natal, a position he would hold until 2016.
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Yusuf Bhamjee was born on 10 January 1950 in Wolmaransstad in the former Transvaal.
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Yusuf Bhamjee later played cricket as a bowler and batsman for Natal, and he was a member and later coach of Young Natalians FC.
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In South Africa's first post-apartheid elections in 1994, Yusuf Bhamjee was elected to represent the ANC in the KwaZulu-Natal Legislature.
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Yusuf Bhamjee was elected to a second term in the legislature in the 1999 general election.
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On 23 April 2008, Yusuf Bhamjee was elected as mayor of uMgungundlovu District Municipality, with Tu Zondi as his deputy.
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Yusuf Bhamjee's election followed the ousting of Bongi Sithole, whom the ANC removed in a vote of no confidence due to allegations of mismanagement and maladministration.
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Yusuf Bhamjee was retained in the mayoral office after the 2011 local elections.
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Less than two months after he was elected council speaker, Yusuf Bhamjee was sworn into the KwaZulu-Natal Legislature in early-October 2016.
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Yusuf Bhamjee was not placed on the ANC's candidate list for the legislature for the 2019 provincial election.
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Yusuf Bhamjee married Sabera Yusuf Bhamjee in 1977 after seven years of courtship.
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Yusuf Bhamjee died on 3 January 2025, and was buried at the Mountain Rise Cemetery outside Pietermaritzburg later that day as per Islamic rites.