Obed Mlaba
Encyclopedia
Obed Mlaba is the former mayor of the eThekwini Metropolitan Municipality, which includes Durban
, the third most populous city in South Africa
.
He was born in 1943 in Ntambamhlope near Estcourt in KwaZulu-Natal
. He holds an MBA in Strategic Marketing Management from the International Management Centre (United Kingdom). He gained extensive experience in human resources and business development while working for the sugar firm Huletts.
He entered local government in 1994 as an ANC
member and was appointed Chair of the Executive Committee of the Durban Metropolitan Council 1995.
Mlaba was elected Metropolitan Mayor (ANC) in July 1996. He completed in total two and half terms of office ( 3 of 5 years as the Durban Unicity Mayor and two as the eThekwini Mayor) and retired following the Local Government election of May 2011.
had burnt an effigy of Mlaba after they had been banned from staging a march on the mayor to protest against his housing policy.
A few days after the march Mlaba called a press conference at which he announced that a large amount of Huletts (now trading as Moreland) land would soon be made available for a R10 billion housing project for shack dwellers.
Moreland denied that there was such a project and later went on to announce a commercial project on the land.
Durban
Durban is the largest city in the South African province of KwaZulu-Natal and the third largest city in South Africa. It forms part of the eThekwini metropolitan municipality. Durban is famous for being the busiest port in South Africa. It is also seen as one of the major centres of tourism...
, the third most populous city in South Africa
South Africa
The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...
.
He was born in 1943 in Ntambamhlope near Estcourt in KwaZulu-Natal
KwaZulu-Natal
KwaZulu-Natal is a province of South Africa. Prior to 1994, the territory now known as KwaZulu-Natal was made up of the province of Natal and the homeland of KwaZulu....
. He holds an MBA in Strategic Marketing Management from the International Management Centre (United Kingdom). He gained extensive experience in human resources and business development while working for the sugar firm Huletts.
He entered local government in 1994 as an ANC
African National Congress
The African National Congress is South Africa's governing Africanist political party, supported by its tripartite alliance with the Congress of South African Trade Unions and the South African Communist Party , since the establishment of non-racial democracy in April 1994. It defines itself as a...
member and was appointed Chair of the Executive Committee of the Durban Metropolitan Council 1995.
Mlaba was elected Metropolitan Mayor (ANC) in July 1996. He completed in total two and half terms of office ( 3 of 5 years as the Durban Unicity Mayor and two as the eThekwini Mayor) and retired following the Local Government election of May 2011.
Criticism
In late 2005 the New York Times reported that shack dwellers in the Foreman Road shanty townShanty town
A shanty town is a slum settlement of impoverished people who live in improvised dwellings made from scrap materials: often plywood, corrugated metal and sheets of plastic...
had burnt an effigy of Mlaba after they had been banned from staging a march on the mayor to protest against his housing policy.
A few days after the march Mlaba called a press conference at which he announced that a large amount of Huletts (now trading as Moreland) land would soon be made available for a R10 billion housing project for shack dwellers.
Moreland denied that there was such a project and later went on to announce a commercial project on the land.