Zakhele Mbhele

South African politician

Zakhele Mbhele (born 9 November 1984) is a South African politician. A Member of Parliament of the Democratic Alliance in the National Assembly, Mbhele served as Media Liaison Officer for Western Cape Premier Helen Zille from November 2011 to May 2014.^[1] In the 2014 general election, Mbhele was elected to parliament. He is currently (as of July 2016) DA shadow minister of police.

Personal life and education

Mbhele is openly gay, making him the first openly gay Black member of parliament.^[2]^[3]^[4] He is one of a number of openly LGBT members of parliament, alongside fellow DA MPs Mike Waters and Ian Ollis. While attending University of Witwatersrand, he led ACTIVATE, the university’s LGBT campus group,^[5] and later served on the board of Joburg Pride. He was cited by the Mail & Guardian as one of "Top 200 Young South Africans" for his Civil Society work in 2010.^[6]

References

^ "Media Alert: New Spokesperson in Premier Helen Zille's Office | Western Cape Government". Westerncape.gov.za. 19 May 2014. Retrieved 4 March 2015.
^ "EXCLUSIVE: MEET AFRICA'S FIRST OPENLY-GAY BLACK MP - MambaOnline - Gay South Africa online". MambaOnline. 22 May 2014. Retrieved 4 March 2015.
^ "Africa elects its first openly gay black MP · PinkNews". Pinknews.co.uk. Retrieved 4 March 2015.
^ Reynolds, Andrew (21 May 2014). "Harvey Milk's legacy". The Washington Post. Retrieved 4 March 2015.
^ "My Life : Zak Mbhele". Mambaonline.com. Retrieved 4 March 2015.
^ "200 Young South Africans: Civil Society | News | Mail & Guardian". Mg.co.za. 14 June 2010. Retrieved 4 March 2015.