Lassy Chiwayo

Lekota Lazarus "Lassy" Chiwayo (born 11 October 1966) is a South African politician, diplomat, and businessman from Mpumalanga. He was Mayor of Mbombela from 2008 until 2011, when he joined the diplomatic service.

Chiwayo rose to prominence in the 1980s as an anti-apartheid activist and young inmate of Robben Island. After the end of apartheid in 1994, he served in both houses of Parliament and in the Mpumalanga Executive Council under Premier Mathews Phosa. He retreated to a full-time career in business until June 2008, when he returned to front-line politics to enter the mayoral office. His tenure in the position coincided with Mbombela's preparations to serve as a host city in the 2010 FIFA World Cup, as well as with the concomitant political turmoil over alleged corruption in related contracts. During this period, Chiwayo was a key rival and critic of Mpumalanga Premier David Mabuza.

Chiwayo left the mayoral office after the May 2011 local elections and was subsequently appointed as South African consul-general to Shanghai, China. He was recalled from that position in early 2013.

Early life and activism Born on 11 October 1966, Chiwayo was active in the anti-apartheid movement in his youth. In 1988, he was imprisoned on Robben Island for his activism. He later said that his early treatment by prison officials – including torture and blackmail following his father's death – had led him to adopt "very serious antagonistic attitudes against whites", but that his attitudes were challenged and "transformed" by the ANC leadership on Robben Island. During the legislative term, he resigned from his seat to join the Mpumalanga Provincial Legislature, where he served in Premier Mathews Phosa's government as Member of the Executive Council (MEC) for Sport and Recreation, and later, from late 1998, as MEC for Finance. During the same period, Chiwayo was active in the ANC Youth League, and in 1998 he launched an unsuccessful bid to oust Malusi Gigaba from the league's presidency. In the factional divides of the Mpumalanga ANC of that era, Chiwayo was viewed as an opponent of Mahlangu and a supporter of Mahlangu's predecessor, Mathews Phosa.

National Assembly In June 2001, in what was described by the press as a "purge" by Mahlangu, Chiwayo and a handful of other provincial representatives were transferred from the provincial legislature to the National Assembly. he was succeeded as provincial chief whip by Jabu Mahlangu. However, Chiwayo did not complete the legislative term in his new seat; he retired from active politics to pursue a career in business. During this period, his businesses were involved in the Gautrain project.

Mayor of Mbombela In early June 2008, Upon taking office, Chiwayo announced that he would sequester his business interests in a blind trust and donate the entirety of his mayoral salary to charity.

Contest with David Mabuza By the time he entered the mayoral office, Chiwayo had emerged as a likely contender to succeed Thabang Makwetla as provincial chairperson of the ANC's Mpumalanga branch. When the ANC's provincial elective conference was held in Nelspruit in August 2008, Chiwayo lost to Mabuza, receiving 305 votes to Mabuza's 388.

In future years, Chiwayo remained a prominent critic and rival of Mabuza, who became provincial premier in 2009 and whom Chiwayo later described as someone who "leads the dark forces and works in the shadows". Indeed, on some accounts, over the next three years he became "the face of the anti-Mabuza campaign" in the province.

Mbombela Stadium Much of Chiwayo's mayoral term was dominated by scandals relating to alleged corruption in procurement for the 2010 FIFA World Cup, particularly in the contracts for the construction of the Mbombela Stadium. In a frank interview in mid-2010, Chiwayo told the Mail & Guardian that the selection of Mbombela as a World Cup host city had intensified the "worst alien tendencies within the ANC", saying that, "forces within the party in the province – representing business interests rather than those of the people who voted for the ANC – were working to consolidate their position to make money from the tournament from very early on".

In January 2009, the speaker of the Mbombela council, Jimmy Mohlala, was shot dead in a presumed political assassination. In early 2010, several newspapers reported that Chiwayo himself appeared on at least one leaked hit list that was circulating in the province. Chiwayo said that he was certain that Mohlala had been murdered for his campaign to uncover corruption in the Mbombela Stadium contracts, Chiwayo said that he had called the meeting in order to address his concerns:Someone [Mabuza] had to be told where to get off... I was direct with him about his role in the province – the corruption and tenderpreneur Godfathers he has created. I also told him he had set me up by approaching me to leave my business ventures in Johannesburg and come here to be mayor so he could destroy me. After the elections, he was succeeded as mayor by Cathy Dlamini.

Diplomatic career In September 2011, the Mail & Guardian reported that Chiwayo had been designated to take office as South African consul-general in Shanghai, China. Chiwayo said that he believed the attack was politically motivated and had been planned by rivals who wanted to "send him a message"; he said that the house had been attacked on prior occasions and that he had received "phone call threats telling me to get out of Mpumalanga". He implied that he had accepted the diplomatic posting precisely in order to evade such threats.

In March 2013, the Department of International Relations and Cooperation announced that Chiwayo had been recalled to South Africa to receive medical treatment. Chiwayo dismissed the reports as false.