Ben Fihla
Member of the National Assembly
In office
May 1994 – 22 March 2013
Personal details
Born (1932-06-13) 13 June 1932
Port Elizabeth, Cape Province
Union of South Africa
Political partyAfrican National Congress
Other political
affiliations		South African Communist Party

Nkosinathi Benson Fihla (born 13 June 1932) is a South African politician and former anti-apartheid activist who represented the African National Congress (ANC) in the National Assembly from 1994 to 2013. He subsequently served as Mayor of the Nelson Mandela Bay Metropolitan Municipality from March 2013 until May 2015. Fihla first joined the ANC in 1954 through its Youth League and he was imprisoned on Robben Island from 1964 to 1978 for his work with Umkhonto we Sizwe.

Early life and activism

Fihla was born on 13 June 1932 in Port Elizabeth in the former Cape Province.[1] After finishing grade ten, he completed a teaching diploma at Lovedale in 1952; he also briefly attended Healdtown in 1953. While at Lovedale he attended political study groups run by students at the nearby University of Fort Hare, an ANC stronghold, and he joined the ANC Youth League in 1954.[1]

From 1954 to 1963, Fihla worked as a cleaner at Barclays Bank in Port Elizabeth. During that time, in 1961, he joined the South African Communist Party and Umkhonto we Sizwe (MK), both of which were banned by the apartheid government.[1] In 1963, he was found carrying firearms and arrested, and in 1964 he was sentenced to 14 years' imprisonment on Robben Island. While in prison, he completed high school and did correspondence courses through the University of South Africa.[1]

He was released in 1978 and continued to do underground work for MK, while working as an insurance salesman and manager at Metropolitan Life. He was detained again for his political activity in the 1980s. In 1990, after the ANC was unbanned by the government, Fihla chaired the party's new above-ground branch in the Eastern Cape.[1]

Post-apartheid political career

In South Africa's first post-apartheid elections in 1994, Fihla was elected to represent the ANC in the National Assembly, the lower house of the new South African Parliament.[1] He served as a backbencher in the National Assembly for almost four legislative terms, representing the Eastern Cape constituency.[2][3] He resigned from Parliament on 22 March 2013 when he was elected as Executive Mayor of Nelson Mandela Bay Metropolitan Municipality.[1][4]

In May 2015, the ANC announced that Fihla would resign in order to cede the mayoral office to Danny Jordaan ahead of the 2016 local elections.[5] Later that year, he was appointed as a special adviser to Phumulo Masualle, the Premier of the Eastern Cape.[6]

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 "Nkosinathi Benson Fihla". South African History Online. 19 March 2012. Retrieved 9 April 2023.
  2. ↑ "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.
  3. ↑ "General Notice: Notice 717 of 2004 - Electoral Commission – List of Names of Representatives in the National Assembly and the Nine Provincial Legislatures in Respect of the Elections Held on 14 April 2004" (PDF). Government Gazette of South Africa. Vol. 466, no. 2677. Pretoria, South Africa: Government of South Africa. 20 April 2004. pp. 4–95. Retrieved 26 March 2021.
  4. ↑ "Nkosinathi Benson Fihla". People's Assembly. Retrieved 9 April 2023.
  5. ↑ Sesant, Siyabonga (18 May 2015). "Jordaan's appointment part of changes at Nelson Mandela Bay". EWN. Retrieved 9 April 2023.
  6. ↑ "Ousted Mandela Bay mayor now special adviser to EC premier". The Mail & Guardian. 23 July 2015. Retrieved 9 April 2023.
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