Zingile Alfred Dingani was born on 8 September 1958 and is a South African politician and civil servant who was the Secretary to Parliament from June 2004 until his dismissal in September 2012.
15 Facts About Zingile Dingani
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Zingile Dingani studied undergraduate English and psychology part-time at Vista University, and later, in 2002, he completed an MBA in entrepreneurship at the University of the Free State.
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In South Africa's first post-apartheid elections in 1994, Zingile Dingani was elected to an ANC seat in the National Assembly, representing the Free State constituency.
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Zingile Dingani deputised Gill Marcus while Marcus was chairman of the influential Joint Standing Committee on Finance, and when Marcus stepped down to become Deputy Minister of Finance in 1996, he was elected to replace her.
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However, months later, Zingile Dingani resigned from his parliamentary seat in order to join the Free State Provincial Legislature, where he was sworn in on 18 December 1996.
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Shortly after his move to the Free State, in February 1997, Zingile Dingani was elected as Provincial Chairperson of the ANC's Free State branch.
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Zingile Dingani won 218 votes, compared to the 189 votes won by the other candidate, Premier Matsepe-Casaburri.
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At the next provincial conference in August 1998, Zingile Dingani was not nominated for re-election, and he was succeeded as Provincial Chairperson by Ace Magashule.
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In 1999, Zingile Dingani was appointed to the Free State Executive Council as MEC for Finance and Expenditure.
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Zingile Dingani left the provincial legislature and the Executive Council after the 2004 general election.
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At the beginning of the legislative term that followed the 2004 election, Zingile Dingani was appointed as Secretary to Parliament, the administrative head of both parliamentary chambers.
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Zingile Dingani took office in June 2004 and succeeded Sindiso Mfenyana.
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Zingile Dingani's term coincided with the Travelgate scandal and was marked by media reports of a power struggle between Dingani and the Speaker of the National Assembly, Baleka Mbete; Majority Chief Whip Mbulelo Goniwe apparently sided with Dingani.
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In March 2009, the Speaker's office announced that Zingile Dingani had been suspended, apparently after independent auditors recommended that he should be sanctioned for failing to respond to nepotism complaints against Lulama Matyolo-Dube, the Secretary of the National Council of Provinces.
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Zingile Dingani returned to work in July 2009, following the 2009 general election, after being cleared of all charges.