Violet Sizani Siwela (born 26 April 1956) is a South African politician from Mpumalanga. She is a Member of the National Assembly, where she chairs the Portfolio Committee on Small Business Development, and a member of the National Executive Committee of the African National Congress (ANC). She served in the Mpumalanga Provincial Legislature until May 2019.
Born in Bushbuckridge, Siwela spent almost three decades as a teacher and primary school principal in Mpumalanga. She entered politics as a ward councillor for the ANC in the Bushbuckridge Local Municipality in 2000 and joined the provincial legislature in 2005. Between 2005 and 2019, she held a range of positions in the legislature, including as a member of the Mpumalanga Executive Council under Premier David Mabuza: she was Member of the Executive Council for Agriculture from 2013 to 2014 and Member of the Executive Council for Human Settlements from 2014 to 2016. Later, she served as Speaker of the Mpumalanga Provincial Legislature from March 2018 until May 2019. She was elected to the National Assembly in the 2019 general election.
Inside her political party, Siwela deputised Mabuza as Deputy Provincial Chairperson of the Mpumalanga ANC from December 2015 until December 2017, when the ANC's 54th National Conference elected her to the party's National Executive Committee. She was re-elected to a second five-year term on the committee in December 2022. She also served on the national executive of the ANC Women's League.
Early life and education
Siwela was born on 26 April 1956 in Bushbuckridge in the former Transvaal Province. She completed a teaching certificate at Hoxane College of Education in Hazyview in 1980, and she later studied at university, completing a Master of Business Administration at Azaliah College in 2003.
Early career
From 1977 to 2005, Siwela was a teacher in Bushbuckridge. During that period, she was the principal of Bushbuckridge's Ludlow Primary School from 1993 to 2005. At the same time, from 2000 to 2005, she represented the African National Congress (ANC) as a ward councillor and Member of the Mayoral Committee in Bushbuckridge Local Municipality.
Mpumalanga Provincial Legislature: 2005–2019
In 2005, Siwela was sworn in to the Mpumalanga Provincial Legislature, where she filled a casual vacancy in the ANC's caucus. She served as the ANC's chief whip until the April 2009 general election, after which she was elected as Deputy Speaker of the Mpumalanga Provincial Legislature. She deputised Jackson Mthembu and then William Lubisi, who succeeded Mthembu as Speaker later in 2009. During her term as Deputy Speaker, she chaired the women's caucus in the provincial legislature.
She also continued to rise through the ranks of the ANC. In 2008, she was elected both to the National Executive Committee of the ANC Women's League and to the Provincial Executive Committee of the party's Mpumalanga branch. In April 2012, she was elected as the ANC's Deputy Provincial Secretary in Mpumalanga, serving under Provincial Chairperson David Mabuza and Provincial Secretary Lucky Ndinisa.
MEC for Agriculture: 2013–2014
On 18 February 2013, Siwela was appointed to the Executive Council of Mpumalanga by Mabuza, who was then in his first term as Premier of Mpumalanga. He named her to succeed Candith Mashego-Dlamini as Member of the Executive Council (MEC) for Agriculture, Rural Development and Land Administration. The opposition Democratic Alliance, criticising various aspects of the reshuffle, said that its "greatest concern" was the appointment of Siwela, whom it considered "a weak leader". According to the party, Siwela's appointment was "surely a reward for securing Premier Mabuza's support with ANC structures in the Bushbuckridge region" and "signals a sad day for the agricultural sector in Mpumalanga – a sector in which she has little or no knowledge, or sentiment."
MEC for Human Settlements: 2014–2016
Ahead of the May 2014 general election, the ANC Provincial Executive Committee submitted Siwela as one of three possible candidates to stand as the party's candidate for election as Premier, though Mabuza was presumed likely to be re-elected. Pursuant to the election, Siwela was re-elected to the provincial legislature, ranked sixth on the ANC's provincial party list, and Mabuza appointed her to his second-term Executive Council as MEC for Human Settlements; she traded portfolios with Andries Gamede. Upon taking office, she said that she would seek to involve her department in job creation, skills development, and public–private partnership.