Eileen Nkosi-Shandu

Eileen Eidana Nkosi-Shandu (; 12 January 1944 – May 2021) was a South African politician who served as Deputy Minister of Public Works in the South African Government of National Unity from 1996 to 1999. From 1999 to 2000, she was KwaZulu-Natal's Member of the Executive Council (MEC) for Education, until she was sacked in a nepotism scandal.

Nkosi-Shandu joined her political party, the Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP), in 1979, while working as a teacher and school principal in KwaZulu-Natal. She represented the IFP in the National Assembly from 1994 to 1999 and in the KwaZulu-Natal Legislature from 1999 to 2004.

Early life and career Nkosi-Shandu was born on 12 January 1944 to Christian parents at Draai-om, a farm outside Ngotshe in the former Natal province. She attended rural schools for most of her childhood and matriculated from Inanda Seminary. After completing her teaching diploma, she began work in 1968, teaching biology and English at secondary schools in Eshowe and neighbouring Swaziland. In 1977, she graduated with a BA from the University of Botswana and Swaziland, and she continued her education at the Canadian Coady International Institute, where she completed a diploma in community development in 1979. She was a member of the Portfolio Committee on Public Works. Later in the legislative term, from 1 March 1996, she was Deputy Minister of Public Works in President Nelson Mandela's Government of National Unity, deputising Minister Jeff Radebe. Nkosi-Shandu remained in the KwaZulu-Natal Legislature in the next legislative term, gaining election to a full term in her seat in the 1999 general election. She said that her view was shared by parents and that she had herself made an "internal arrangement" with her son's school, encouraging them to "klap him" (Afrikaans for "slap") if he misbehaved,

She was succeeded as MEC by Faith Gasa, whose husband created a stir in October 2000 by telling the press that the department's staff remained loyal to Nkosi-Shandu and that Gasa was "being bewitched by Shandu". Nkosi-Shandu said that she had "no problem with [Gasa]" and that she was "so confused" by the allegation that she did not know how to respond. Press speculated that she was retiring pre-emptively because she was ranked poorly on the IFP's party list.