Sipho Gcabashe

Sipho Joseph Gcabashe is a South African politician and businessman who represented the African National Congress (ANC) in the KwaZulu-Natal Provincial Legislature until 2019, when he failed to gain re-election. He was also Provincial Secretary of the ANC's KwaZulu-Natal branch from 1996 to 2005.

ANC Provincial Secretary: 1996–2005 In December 1996, Gcabashe was elected to succeed Senzo Mchunu as ANC Provincial Secretary in KwaZulu-Natal, with Bheki Cele as his deputy. According to the Mail & Guardian, his election followed a directive from the ANC's national leadership – conveyed by Valli Moosa – that other contestants should withdraw from the race to allow Gcabashe to lead the party's provincial campaign ahead of the 1999 general election. That directive was apparently followed by Mchunu but ignored by Mchunu's former deputy, Sifiso Nkabinde, whom Gcabashe beat in a vote for the Provincial Secretary position. He won election to his third term narrowly: at the ANC's provincial elective conference in 2002, he tied for the position with Nathi Mthethwa at 190 votes each, and when the vote was re-run he won by a margin of three votes, receiving 235 votes to Mthetha's 232.

Legislative career Gcabashe served in the national Parliament in the 1990s in the KwaZulu-Natal Provincial Legislature, where he held a seat by May 2004. In October 2013, he was elected as the provincial legislature's Chairperson of Committees, succeeding Lydia Johnson when Johnson in turn replaced Peggy Nkonyeni as Speaker. He stood for re-election in the next general election in 2019, but he was ranked 59th on the ANC's party list and did not secure a seat. He was also a shareholder – along with Scott and opposition parliamentarian Senzo Mfayela – in Dezzo Holdings, which was controversially awarded a R2.1-billion housing contract with the provincial government in 2011. At the same time, Gcabashe was a member of the Provincial Executive Committee of the ANC's KwaZulu-Natal branch, gaining re-election to his seat in 2012 and 2015.

Personal life He was formerly married to the late ANC politician Lungi Mnganga-Gcabashe; they divorced in 2004 after a period of separation.