Violet Siwela

Violet Siwela
Chairperson of the Portfolio Committee
on Small Business Development
In office
2 July 2019 – 18 January 2024
Preceded byRuth Bhengu
Member of the National Assembly
In office
22 May 2019 – 18 January 2024
Succeeded byNuraan Muller
Deputy Provincial Chairperson of the Mpumalanga African National Congress
In office
December 2015 – December 2017
ChairpersonDavid Mabuza
Preceded byDavid Dube
Succeeded bySpeedy Mashilo
Other provincial offices
2005–2019
Speaker of the Mpumalanga Provincial Legislature
In office
22 March 2018 – 7 May 2019
DeputyBonakele Majuba
Preceded byThandi Shongwe
Succeeded byBusisiwe Shiba
Member of the Mpumalanga Executive Council for Human Settlements
In office
30 May 2014 – 17 August 2016
PremierDavid Mabuza
Preceded byAndries Gamede
Succeeded bySpeedy Mashilo
Member of the Mpumalanga Executive Council for Agriculture, Rural Development and Land Administration
In office
18 February 2013 – 30 May 2014
PremierDavid Mabuza
Preceded byCandith Mashego-Dlamini
Succeeded byAndries Gamede
Member of the Mpumalanga Provincial Legislature
In office
2005 – 7 May 2019
Personal details
Born(1956-04-26)26 April 1956
Bushbuckridge, Transvaal
Union of South Africa
Died18 January 2024(2024-01-18) (aged 67)
Political partyAfrican National Congress

Violet Sizani Siwela (26 April 1956 – 18 January 2024) was a South African politician from Mpumalanga. She was a Member of the National Assembly, where she chaired the Portfolio Committee on Small Business Development, and a member of the National Executive Committee of the African National Congress (ANC). She served in the Mpumalanga Provincial Legislature until May 2019.

Born in Bushbuckridge, Siwela spent almost three decades as a teacher and primary school principal in Mpumalanga. She entered politics as a ward councillor for the ANC in the Bushbuckridge Local Municipality in 2000 and joined the provincial legislature in 2005. Between 2005 and 2019, she held a range of positions in the legislature, including as a member of the Mpumalanga Executive Council under Premier David Mabuza: she was Member of the Executive Council for Agriculture from 2013 to 2014 and Member of the Executive Council for Human Settlements from 2014 to 2016. Later, she served as Speaker of the Mpumalanga Provincial Legislature from March 2018 until May 2019. She was elected to the National Assembly in the 2019 general election.

Inside her political party, Siwela deputised Mabuza as Deputy Provincial Chairperson of the Mpumalanga ANC from December 2015 until December 2017, when the ANC's 54th National Conference elected her to the party's National Executive Committee. She was re-elected to a second five-year term on the committee in December 2022. She also served on the national executive of the ANC Women's League.