Happy Blose

Happy Mamlili Blose (born 7 July 1951) is a South African politician who represented the African National Congress (ANC) in the KwaZulu-Natal Provincial Legislature nearly continuously between 1994 and 2019. She also served a brief term in the National Assembly from 2004 to 2006. She rose to prominence during apartheid as a leader of the women's movement in the Natal Midlands, where she chaired the regional branch of the ANC Women's League in the mid-1990s.

Happy Blose
Member of the National Assembly
In office
23 April 2004 – 7 August 2006
ConstituencyKwaZulu-Natal
Personal details
Born (1951-07-07) 7 July 1951
CitizenshipSouth Africa
Political partyAfrican National Congress

Early life and activism

Blose was born on 7 July 1951.[1] Before entering legislative politics, she was a domestic worker.[2] During apartheid, she was active in the women's movement in the Midlands of KwaZulu-Natal (then the Natal Province), including as a leader of the influential Midland Women's Group in the 1980s.[3] In the early 1990s, she was a key figure in the Natal Midlands branch of the ANC Women's League,[2] which she went on to chair.[4]

Legislative career: 1994–2019

In South Africa's first post-apartheid elections in 1994, Blose was elected to represent the ANC in the KwaZulu-Natal Provincial Legislature.[2] She was re-elected to her seat in 1999.[1][5] However, as the end of her second term approached, the Mail & Guardian reported that Blose had been significantly demoted on the ANC's party list for the 2004 general election, to the consternation of her supporters.[6] She was ultimately nominated for election to the National Assembly, the lower house of the national Parliament, where she represented the KwaZulu-Natal constituency from 2004 to 2006. She resigned from the assembly on 7 August 2006 and was replaced by Mandla Mbili.[7]

Thereafter Blose returned to the KwaZulu-Natal Provincial Legislature, where she served the rest of her career.[2][8] She was elected to full terms in 2009[9] and 2014,[8] and also served for a period as Deputy Chairperson of Committees in the legislature.[10] She left the provincial legislature after the 2019 general election.[8]

Personal life

One of Blose's sons, Sithembiso Mkhize, was an official in the national Department of Correctional Services; in 2003, his appointment was scrutinised by a commission of inquiry into nepotism allegations.[11] Another of Blose's sons, Nathi, was his mother's official chauffeur while she served in the provincial legislature; they were in a car accident together in Pietermaritzburg in 2013.[12]

References
  1. "General Notice: Notice 1319 of 1999 – Electoral Commission: Representatives Elected to the Various Legislatures" (PDF). Government Gazette of South Africa. Vol. 408, no. 20203. Pretoria, South Africa: Government of South Africa. 11 June 1999. Retrieved 26 March 2021.
  2. Francis, Suzanne (23 December 2011). Institutionalizing Elites: Political Elite Formation and Change in the KwaZulu-Natal Provincial Legislature. Brill. p. 128. ISBN 978-90-04-21922-9.
  3. Landsman, Christina (2013). "Oral History: Representing the Hidden, the Untold and the Veiled". South African History Online. p. 181. Retrieved 11 May 2023.
  4. "Women's League rebels get a lashing from the regions". The Mail & Guardian. 24 February 1995. Retrieved 11 May 2023.
  5. "'Our journey to prosperity: South Africa, we can do it'". IOL. 5 November 2022. Retrieved 11 May 2023.
  6. "Alliance split over election list". The Mail & Guardian. 21 November 2003. Retrieved 11 May 2023.
  7. "National Assembly Members". Parliamentary Monitoring Group. 15 January 2009. Archived from the original on 14 May 2009. Retrieved 8 April 2023.
  8. "Happy Mamlili Blose". People's Assembly. Retrieved 11 May 2023.
  9. "KwaZulu-Natal MPLs elected April 22". Politicsweb. 29 April 2009. Retrieved 1 February 2023.
  10. Mazibila, Suprise (30 May 2010). "Residents march over lack of service delivery". Witness. Retrieved 11 May 2023.
  11. "Jobs-for-pals: Links emerge". News24. 3 March 2003. Retrieved 11 May 2023.
  12. "Son writes off senior ANC leader's vehicle". Sunday Times. 25 February 2013. Retrieved 11 May 2023.
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