Nomafrench Mbombo


Nomafrench Mbombo is a South African academic and politician who has been serving as the Western Cape Provincial Minister of Health since her appointment in 2015. She has also been serving as a Member of the Western Cape Provincial Parliament since the provincial election of 2014. She had previously served as the Western Cape Provincial Minister of Cultural Affairs and Sport from 2014 to 2015. Mbombo is the Federal Leader of the Democratic Alliance Women's Network.

Early life and education

Mbombo was born on 6 September 1966. She spent her childhood in the Mdantsane township of East London in the now-dissolved Cape Province.
She obtained her PhD in the fields of Gender and Human Rights from the University of the Western Cape. She achieved her Masters in Maternal and Child Health from the University of KwaZulu-Natal, and her Bachelors in Nursing Science from the University of Fort Hare. She was then employed in both the Eastern Cape and KwaZulu-Natal provincial and local government health departments.
Before being involved in politics, she worked as an Associate Professor at the Faculty of Community and Health Sciences Department of the University of the Western Cape.
She has also served as a member of various organisations, such as the National Committee of Confidential Enquiries on Maternal Death, NEPAD, and the UN Office of Human Rights: Women & Gender Directorate.

Political career

Mbombo, who previously was an African National Congress supporter, joined the DA in 2013, after attending a DA meeting of black professionals.
Mbombo was elected to the Western Cape Provincial Parliament in 2014. She was sworn in as a Member on 21 May 2014. She represents the Philippi region of the City of Cape Town. Premier Helen Zille appointed Mbombo to the post of Western Cape Provincial Minister of Cultural Affairs and Sport. She was sworn in as Provincial Minister on 26 May 2014.
In December 2014, Premier Helen Zille announced that Theuns Botha and Mbombo would exchange ministerial positions. Mbombo would now become Western Cape Provincial Minister of Health, while Botha would become Western Cape Provincial Minister of Cultural Affairs and Sport. The changes came into effect on 1 January 2015.
In 2018, incumbent Democratic Alliance Women's Network Federal Leader, Denise Robinson, announced that she would not seek re-election to another term. Mbombo subsequently declared her candidacy and was elected on 7 April 2018 at the 2018 Democratic Alliance Federal Congress.
In May 2019, newly-elected Premier Alan Winde announced that he had retained Mbombo in her post as Provincial Minister of Health.
In October 2019, she declared her candidacy for interim Federal Chairperson of the Democratic Alliance following Athol Trollip's resignation. She lost to Ivan Meyer.

Personal life

Mbombo was married and has two daughters. Her husband died in 2003.
In March 2020, Mbombo came into contact with the French consul-general Laurent Amar who tested positive for COVID-19. She consequently went into self-isolation and later tested negative.