Naledi Chirwa

Naledi Nokukhanya Chirwa (born 22 July 1993) is a South African feminist, legislator and former student activist serving as a Member of the National Assembly of South Africa for the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF). She was previously involved with the FeesMustFall student protests that occurred at the University of Pretoria between 2015 and 2016. She took office as an MP on 22 May 2019 and is one of the youngest MPs of the 27th Parliament.

The Honourable

Naledi Chirwa
MP
Member of the National Assembly of South Africa
Assumed office
22 May 2019
Personal details
Born
Naledi Nokukhanya Chirwa

(1993-07-22) 22 July 1993
Vosloorus, East Rand, Transvaal Province, South Africa
NationalitySouth African
Political partyEconomic Freedom Fighters (2015–present)
Children1
Alma materUniversity of Pretoria
OccupationMember of Parliament
ProfessionPolitician

Early life

Chirwa was born on 22 July 1993 in Vosloorus, East Rand, in the former Transvaal Province.[1] She grew up in Mamelodi, Pretoria. At the age of 15, she served as a deputy president of the Tshwane North College FET (now known as the Tshwane North College TVET). She later enrolled at the University of Pretoria for a drama degree.[1]

Political career

She joined the EFF in 2015 and became a member of the party's Student Command. In August 2016, during former president Jacob Zuma's speech at the IEC election centre following the 2016 municipal elections, Chirwa and three other student activists held up signs reading "remember Khwezi", "I am 1 in 3" and "10 yrz later", in reference to Zuma's rape trial of the mid-2000s.[2]

Also in 2016, Chirwa was involved in student protests relating to the FeesMustFall movement. She was later arrested and suspended on campus as part of her bail conditions.[3]

In 2019, she was elected to the National Assembly and became the youngest EFF MP. Chirwa serves alongside other student activists such as Peter Keetse, Nompendulo Mkhatshwa and Vuyani Pambo. All of them were elected in 2019.[4]

Personal life

Chirwa has one child.[1]

gollark: It has redundant PSUs but I only have one plugged in so the fault warning light blinks constantly.
gollark: I have never tried my server under full load and it never goes anywhere near full load except during boot, so meh.
gollark: Maybe Starlink. Eventually.
gollark: Unfortunately, where I live there's no better option as far as I know.
gollark: I get 34/8 because BT, which is not *great* but fast enough to run my site off mostly.

References
  1. Zwane, Nokuthula (4 June 2019). "Naledi Chirwa: Voice of the voiceless". Sunday World. Retrieved 13 April 2020.
  2. Makhubu, Ntando (8 Aug 2016). "Woman in Zuma #Khwezi protest speaks out". IOL. Retrieved 13 April 2020.
  3. Madibogo, Julia (19 October 2016). "Who is Naledi Chirwa - Drama student‚ Zuma tormentor‚ EFF student leader and fees must fall campaigner". TimesLIVE. Retrieved 13 April 2020.
  4. Bhengu, Cebelihle (22 May 2019). "Power to the new generation: three young MPs you need to know". TimesLIVE. Retrieved 13 April 2020.
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