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Makhi Feni (born 1 April 1978) is a South African politician from the Eastern Cape. He has represented the African National Congress in the National Council of Provinces since June 2024. He is the chairperson of the Select Committee on Education, Sciences and Creative Industries.

Feni served in the Eastern Cape Provincial Legislature from May 2023 to May 2024, and before that he was a local councillor in the Nelson Mandela Bay Metropolitan Municipality.

Nelson Mandela Bay

Feni began his political career in the Nelson Mandela Bay Metropolitan Municipality in the Eastern Cape, where he represented the African National Congress (ANC) as a local councillor. He was also active in the local South African Communist Party. In August 2018, when the ANC succeeded in taking over the leadership of the Nelson Mandela Bay council, Feni was appointed to the coalition mayoral committee of newly elected mayor Mongameli Bobani, who named him as Member of the Mayoral Committee (MMC) for Corporate Services. He lost that position when the opposition Democratic Alliance (DA) regained control of the council.

However, pursuant to the November 2021 local elections, Feni returned to his position as MMC for Corporate Services in a new coalition government under ANC mayor Eugene Johnson. Feni had been a prominent figure in the ANC's preparations for the elections; he had reportedly come to physical blows with Andile Mfunda in a dispute over his handling of the ANC's candidate selection process, and with Johnson he was a considered a frontrunner for the mayoral seat.

Johnson's government collapsed after less than a year, in September 2022, and Annette Lovemore replaced Feni as MMC in the DA's new government.

Eastern Cape Provincial Legislature

In late May 2023, Feni resigned from the Nelson Mandela Bay council, ceding his seat to Babalwa Lobishe, who became the municipality's deputy mayor when the ANC launched a new governing coalition the following week. On 31 May 2023, Feni was sworn in to Lobishe's seat in the Eastern Cape Provincial Legislature. He served in the legislature until the next general election in May 2024.

National Council of Provinces

Pursuant to the 2024 general election, Feni was elected to represent the ANC in the Eastern Cape caucus of the National Council of Provinces, the upper house of the South African Parliament. With Patrick Mabilo and Sylvia Nxumalo, he was one of three members whom the council designated to serve on the Magistrates Commission as a parliamentary representative. He was also appointed as a member of the Select Committee on Social Services and Select Committee on Education, Sciences and Creative Industries, and on 11 July 2024 he was elected unopposed as chairperson of the latter committee.

References

1. "Bay comrade blasts SACP's East Cape boss". Herald. 16 April 2014. Retrieved 22 July 2024.
2. "Bobani and mayoral committee report to City Hall for duty". Herald. 28 August 2018. Retrieved 22 July 2024.
3. Ellis, Estelle (22 November 2021). "Gqeberha follies: The absent councillor, the close vote and the dramatic collapse of coalition talks". Daily Maverick. Retrieved 22 July 2024.
4. "Flying fists, missing names and The Giraffe in Nelson Mandela Bay candidate lists". Herald. 1 October 2021. Retrieved 22 July 2024.
5. Mavuso, Sihle (10 November 2021). "ANC heavyweights battle for mayoral positions in metros, here is who is against who and where". IOL. Retrieved 22 July 2024.
6. "Storm brews over ANC Nelson Mandela Bay mayor picks". Herald. 11 November 2021. Retrieved 22 July 2024.
7. Bezuidenhout, Candice (28 September 2022). "New Nelson Mandela Bay Mayoral Committee finalised". News24. Retrieved 22 July 2024.
8. "Nelson Mandela Bay gets a new mayor — again!". Herald. 27 May 2023. Retrieved 22 July 2024.
9. ^ "ANC regional chair Babalwa Lobishe elected new Nelson Mandela Bay deputy mayor". Herald. 26 May 2023. Retrieved 31 May 2023.
10. "Parliament elects Mr Poobalan Govender as Deputy Chairperson". South African Government. 11 July 2024. Retrieved 11 July 2024.
11. "Makhi Feni". People's Assembly. Retrieved 22 July 2024.
12. "Election of Chairperson". Parliamentary Monitoring Group. 11 July 2024. Retrieved 22 July 2024.

External links

• Makhi Feni at People's Assembly
• Makhi Feni at Parliament of South Africa

• Living people
• 1978 births
• 21st-century South African politicians
• African National Congress politicians
• Members of the Eastern Cape Provincial Legislature
• Members of the National Council of Provinces
• Members of the South African Communist Party
• Politicians from the Eastern Cape