Andrew Madella

Andrew Frans Madella (born 12 July 1962) is a South African politician, disability rights activist, and former trade unionist. A member of the African National Congress (ANC), he served the Western Cape constituency in the National Assembly from 2005 to 2009 and from 2014 to 2019.

Madella is a social worker by training and rose to political prominence as the Provincial Secretary of the Western Cape branch of the National Education, Health and Allied Workers' Union (NEHAWU), an office he held from 1998 to 2005. He is also a former secretary-general of Disabled People South Africa.

Early life and education Madella was born on 12 July 1962 in Cradock in the former Cape Province. He contracted polio as an infant and uses crutches to walk. After leaving Cradock, his family lived briefly in Prince Albert, He was involved in anti-apartheid student politics through the student representative council at his school. and later as its national secretary-general. when he was sworn in to replace Rhoda Joemat, who had resigned in the aftermath of the Travelgate scandal. He served the Western Cape constituency. as parliamentary liaison officer at the Passenger Rail Agency of South Africa, and as full-time secretary-general of DPSA.

In the 2014 general election, Madella was returned to the National Assembly, again representing the ANC in the Western Cape. He served on the Portfolio Committee on Rural Development and Land Reform and later the Portfolio Committee on Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries. He stood for re-election in 2019 but was ranked too low on the party list to win a seat.