Luyolo Mphithi (born 1 September 1992) is a South African politician who has been the Shadow Minister of Human Settlements since 2023 and a Member of Parliament since 2019. He previously served as Shadow Minister of Women, Youth and Persons with Disabilities in the Presidency from 2019 to 2023. A member of the Democratic Alliance, he served as the Federal Leader of the party's youth organisation from 2018 until his resignation in 2022. Luyolo Mphithi was elected as Vice President of the African Liberal Youth for democracy in Dakar, Senegal in 2022. He also serves as a Bureau Regional member of the International Federation of Liberal Youth (IFLRY).
Early life and education
From the University of the Witwatersrand, Mphithi has a Bachelor of Arts degree in political science, international relations and law as well as a joint honour's degree in international relations and political science. He is currently pursuing his master's degree in Public Administration at the same university.
Additionally, Mphithi has a certificate in political formations and structures from the International Academy of Leadership (IAF) in Gummersbach, Germany. He also holds a certificate in research Methodology from Bowdoin College and a certificate in public management from Syracuse University in the United States.
Career
Mphithi was employed by the Mpumalanga Provincial Legislature as a research and communication officer, responsible for researching the fields of cooperative governance and traditional affairs, human settlements, public works, roads and transport, as well as public safety, security and liaison.
He was also employed as a consultant at various institutions, such as the Executive Research Associates, the Hanns Seidel Foundation, the University of the Witwatersrand, and the Department of International Relations and Cooperation. Mphithi also served as the Director of Political Administration at the City of Johannesburg.
Political career
Mphithi served as a Democratic Alliance councillor in the City of Johannesburg for the community of Meadowlands in Soweto. During his time on the city council, he was a member of the committees on public safety and environment, infrastructure and services. He also served as the director and head of department of political administration for the municipality.
Mphithi is a DA's Young Leaders Programme graduate and has held multiple roles in the DA. While a student at the University of Witwatersrand, he was head of the university's Democratic Alliance Student Organisation branch and was also the Gauteng DA Youth deputy chair in 2012. He serves as a member of the party's Federal Council for the Johannesburg region. Additionally, he serves as treasurer for the African Liberal Youth (ALY). He represented the organisation at the African Liberal Network's 2017 conference in Nairobi, Kenya.
At the DA's conference in April 2018, Mphithi was elected federal leader of the DA Youth, succeeding Yusuf Cassim.
Mphithi stood as a DA parliamentary candidate on the national list in the 2019 national elections, and was subsequently elected to the National Assembly and sworn in on 22 May 2019. On 5 June, Mphithi was appointed Shadow Minister of Women, Youth and Persons with Disabilities in the Presidency by DA leader, Mmusi Maimane, in his second shadow cabinet.
Maimane resigned as DA leader in October 2019 and John Steenhuisen was voted in as his interim successor in November. In May 2020, the DA announced that it would hold its Federal Congress to elect new leadership on 31 October to 1 November 2020. Mphithi was against the decision and later supported KwaZulu-Natal MPL Mbali Ntuli's bid for DA leader. Steenhuisen was elected leader for a full term in a landslide on 1 November. He announced his shadow cabinet in December 2020 and kept Mphithi as Shadow Minister of Women, Youth and Persons with Disabilities in the Presidency.
