Canaan Mdletshe
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Canaan Mdletshe | |
|---|---|
| Member of the National Assembly of South Africa | |
| In office 24 April 2024 – 28 May 2024 | |
| Preceded by | Munzoor Shaik Emam |
| Secretary-General of the National Freedom Party | |
| In office December 2019 – 14 June 2024[a] | |
| Succeeded by | Teddy Thwala |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 1976 or 1977 |
| Died | (aged 47) Mtubatuba, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa |
| Political party | National Freedom Party (2011–2024) uMkhonto weSizwe (2024) |
| Children | 3 |
| Profession | Journalist |
Canaan Mdletshe (1976 or 1977 – 5 December 2024) was a South African journalist and politician who was a Member of the National Assembly of South Africa from April until May 2024, representing the National Freedom Party (NFP), of which he served as secretary-general.[1][2]
Mdletshe was born in Nongoma.[3] Before entering politics, he worked as a political reporter at The Sowetan and as a news editor at The New Age.[4] He also worked at the TimesLIVE.[5] Mdletshe left those positions in 2013.[6]
He was elected Secretary-General of the NFP in December 2019.[7] His term ended when he resigned on 14 June 2024,[8] although it had been contested by Teddy Thwala since December 2023.[9]
Mdletshe was attacked by a group of people during a layover in Ulundi, a local political violence hotspot at the time, during the 2021 South African municipal elections. He later opened a criminal case regarding the incident.[10]
Mdletshe was not included on any NFP candidate lists for the 2024 general election and left the parliament as a result.[11]
In June 2024, after the NFP joined the Government of Provincial Unity in the aftermath of the 2024 KwaZulu-Natal provincial election, Mdletshe resigned from the party.[8] He had joined the NFP when it was founded in 2011.[12]
In August 2024, Mdletshe joined the MK Party.[13]
Mdletshe was married and had three children.[14] He died in a traffic collision in Mtubatuba on 5 December 2024, at the age of 47.[14][15]
