Mary Phadi sets sights on Nkangala mayoral chain as ActionSA candidate

Mary Phadi, the Mpumalanga leader of ActionSA, is campaigning as the party’s Nkangala district mayoral candidate and has pledged to focus on empowering women and addressing municipal governance issues.

Business and transport roots

According to The Citizen, Phadi became a businesswoman in 2006 when she began owning and directing a logistics company. Before entering the transport sector she worked as a secretary at several coal mining companies, including Anglo Coal at New Denmark Colliery and Sasol Mining.

After earning an N3 certificate in office administration, she completed a diploma in human resources management and later upgraded to a degree in HR from the University of SA. The Citizen reports she owns a number of trucks that operate in the mining industry and that she was forced to rebrand them because of her political standing; she has said she does not give out further information about the trucks.

Industry representation and advocacy

The Citizen says Phadi advocated for women’s rights in the transport industry for 13 years before entering politics in 2023 and represented the freight industry for 16 years. For the past nine years she has been the president of the Truckers Association of South Africa and is also the chair of truckers in the Southern African Development Community countries.

Traditional leadership and community roles

Phadi chairs the Transvaal Kingdom, a collective coalition of traditional royal houses representing indigenous kingdoms in Gauteng, Limpopo, Mpumalanga and North West, and is a founding member of MonRoyal, an alliance and business vehicle for traditional African kingdoms, The Citizen reports.

Political path and promises

The Citizen reports Phadi joined ActionSA citing a belief that the party can bring change and praised Herman Mashaba’s leadership while he was mayor of Johannesburg. She is a member of the ActionSA provincial executive, a provincial campaigner and the district mayoral candidate for Nkangala.

According to The Citizen, Phadi has vowed to continue empowering women and has said she will create employment and reverse the ongoing bad audit report in municipalities should she become mayor.

Personal background

The Citizen reports Phadi was born in Cornelia in the northern Free State and has lived in Vrede, Standerton and Jandrell in Sakhile township, Mpumalanga. Her father, a school principal, died at the age of 84 in 2021, and her mother, a former school teacher, is 83.

Phadi told The Citizen she was expelled from the uMkhonto weSizwe (MK) party but said there was no reason, noting she had received an unqualified opinion audit as a member of the provincial legislature and a convenor.

Faith, writing and personal notes

The Citizen reports Phadi is a born-again Christian at El Roi Ministries and is the president of 8 Hours in God’s Presence, an extended Christian programme. She is the author of a book titled Destined to Reign.

The Citizen also reports that she is a twin and that her twin sister died when she was nine years old.