Nombulelo Mabandla

Mabandla was born in 1969 or 1970 in Chulunca in present-day Mhlontlo Local Municipality in the former Cape Province.^[1] She entered frontline politics through the ANC Youth League^[2] and served as Provincial Treasurer for the league's Eastern Cape branch.^[1] In the 2006 local elections, she was elected as a councillor in Mhlontlo and was appointed as a Member of the Mayoral Committee.^[1]

In the 2009 general election, she stood successfully for election to the Eastern Cape Provincial Legislature, ranked 23rd on the ANC's provincial party list.^[3] After the election, Premier Noxolo Kiviet announced that Mabandla would join the Eastern Cape Executive Council as MEC for Human Settlements.^[4] However, Mabandla held that office for less than two years: on 27 November 2010, Kiviet announced a major reshuffle in which Mabandla's portfolio was merged with the Safety and Liaison portfolio and Mabandla herself was fired from the Executive Council.^[5][6] She continued to serve as an ordinary Member of the Provincial Legislature until her death.^[1]

Mabandla died on 28 September 2011, aged 41.^[2] At the time of her death, she was in Kokstad on her way to Durban with her husband following a work trip to Port St. Johns.^[1] According to News24, she died "under mysterious circumstances": she reportedly died after taking water purification tablets, but an autopsy found that her injuries were consistent with strangulation.^[7] She was buried in Qumbu.^[7]

Mabandla had six children^[1] and was married twice: first in a customary marriage to Luxolo Manentsa in 1991 and then to Phumzile Mabandla in 2000.^[7] Her mother and her elder children later disputed the legal validity of her second marriage, claiming that Mabandla had left Manentsa in a quarrel but had never ended her first marriage.^[7] They also claimed that Phumzile Mabandla had been unable to produce a marriage certificate when attempting to claim Mabandla's body from the hospital in Kokstad.^[7] Following a dispute and a court application by Mabandla's family, a court annulled Mabandla's second marriage in May 2013.^[7]