Lindiwe Mazibuko, the DA’s former parliamentary leader and the first black woman to lead the opposition party in the National Assembly, is now working to support young leaders across Africa.
Mazibuko, originally from uMlazi, Durban, left the DA in 2014 to study at Harvard University in the US after disagreements with the party’s federal council chairperson, Helen Zille.
Last year, Mazibuko co-founded Futurelect, a non-profit organisation that trains and supports future African political and public leaders.
On Wednesday, she said about 300 young people from the Southern African Development Community (SADC) region have applied for the programme.
“We’re really happy with the high quality and diversity of the applicants for the 2024-25 Southern African public leadership programme,” Mazibuko said.
The programme is intended to guide and develop young leaders who want to help improve the continent and bring about positive change.
Mazibuko first made headlines in South African politics at 30 when she ran against veteran politician Athol Trollip to lead the DA in parliament.
She won the election with support from then-DA leader Zille. However, she later disagreed with Zille, especially on Black Economic Empowerment (BEE) policies, and started a group within the DA to push for more support for BEE.
Feeling frustrated in the party, Mazibuko refused to be redeployed as the DA’s premier candidate in Gauteng, seeing it as a setup for her potential failure.
Now, her return to politics involves promoting the role of civic education in democracy and “shaping the leaders who will reshape tomorrow”.
Pictured above: Former DA Leader Lindiwe Mazibuko has announced about 300 applicants for her Southern African Region leadership programme.
Source: X
