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Canaan Mdletshe

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Canaan Mdletshe
Member of the National Assembly of South Africa
In office
24 April 2024  28 May 2024
Preceded byMunzoor Shaik Emam
Secretary-General of the National Freedom Party
In office
December 2019  14 June 2024[a]
Succeeded byTeddy Thwala
Personal details
Born1976 or 1977
Died (aged 47)
Mtubatuba, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa
PartyNational Freedom Party (2011–2024)
uMkhonto weSizwe (2024)
Children3
ProfessionJournalist

Canaan Mdletshe (1976 or 1977 – 5 December 2024) was a South African journalist and politician who was a Member of the National Assembly of South Africa from April until May 2024, representing the National Freedom Party (NFP), of which he served as secretary-general.[1][2]

Biography

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Mdletshe was born in Nongoma.[3] Before entering politics, he worked as a political reporter at The Sowetan and as a news editor at The New Age.[4] He also worked at the TimesLIVE.[5] Mdletshe left those positions in 2013.[6]

He was elected Secretary-General of the NFP in December 2019.[7] His term ended when he resigned on 14 June 2024,[8] although it had been contested by Teddy Thwala since December 2023.[9]

Mdletshe was attacked by a group of people during a layover in Ulundi, a local political violence hotspot at the time, during the 2021 South African municipal elections. He later opened a criminal case regarding the incident.[10]

Mdletshe was not included on any NFP candidate lists for the 2024 general election and left the parliament as a result.[11]

In June 2024, after the NFP joined the Government of Provincial Unity in the aftermath of the 2024 KwaZulu-Natal provincial election, Mdletshe resigned from the party.[8] He had joined the NFP when it was founded in 2011.[12]

In August 2024, Mdletshe joined the MK Party.[13]

Mdletshe was married and had three children.[14] He died in a traffic collision in Mtubatuba on 5 December 2024, at the age of 47.[14][15]

References

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  1. "National Assembly Members (As on 2 May 2024)" (PDF). Parliamentary Monitoring Group. 2 May 2024. Retrieved 23 May 2024.
  2. "NFP secretary general declares conference in Durban as 'clandestine'". The Witness. 19 December 2023. Retrieved 23 May 2024.
  3. Mavuso, Sihle (6 December 2024). "BREAKING NEWS: MK Party Leader In KwaZulu-Natal Dies In Car Accident". African Times. Retrieved 6 December 2024.
  4. Sikhakhane, Celani (6 December 2024). "MK leader dies after late-night drive from polls". Scrolla.Africa. Retrieved 6 December 2024.
  5. Hlangu, Lwazi (6 December 2024). "MK Party official and ex-journalist Canaan Mdletshe dies in KZN crash". TimesLIVE. Retrieved 6 December 2024.
  6. Phungula, Willem (15 December 2019). "Canaan Mdletshe elected as NFP Secretary-General". The Daily Sun. Retrieved 6 December 2024.
  7. "Canaan Mdletshe elected as NFP Secretary-General". News365. 15 December 2019. Retrieved 6 December 2024.
  8. 1 2 Makwea, Reitumetse (14 June 2024). ""I'm not a sell-out": NFP's Canaan Mdletshe announces resignation". Briefly. Retrieved 5 August 2024.
  9. Liebenberg, Dries (19 December 2023). "NFP leadership squabbles continue". SABC News. Retrieved 6 December 2024.
  10. "Elections 2021: NFP's Canaan Mdletshe assaulted outside voting station in Ulundi, KZN". The Witness. 1 November 2021. Retrieved 6 December 2024.
  11. "Final National Candidates" (PDF). IEC. Retrieved 10 June 2024.
  12. Ntanzi, Hope (7 August 2024). "Former NFP Secretary-general Canaan Mdletshe resigns to join the MKP amid coalition controversy". Independent Online. Retrieved 6 December 2024.
  13. Maliti, Soyiso. "Former NFP secretary-general Canaan Mdletshe joins MK Party to serve alongside 'father' figure Zuma". News24. Retrieved 5 August 2024.
  14. 1 2 Hans, Bongani (8 December 2024). "Canaan Mdletshe, the journalist-cum-politician dies in car crash". Independent Online. Retrieved 8 December 2024.
  15. Ncwane, Nokwanda (6 December 2024). "MK Party leader in KwaZulu-Natal involved in fatal car crash". The South African. Retrieved 6 December 2024.

Notes

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  1. Contested by Teddy Thwala from December 2023
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