Sikhumbuzo Hlongwane

He holds a Bachelor of Commerce Degree Hounours from University of Zululand (South Africa). He is also in possession of a Postgraduate Diploma in Social Housing Development from Institute for Housing (IHS), Erasmus University, Netherlands and also a Master of Commerce Degree specializing in local economic development from University of KwaZulu Natal (South Africa). He is a seasoned local government practitioner who has work on various positions within developmental local government and economic development fields. Currently, Sikhumbuzo is the Executive Director: Economic Development and Planning at KwaDukuza Municipality in South Africa. He has been a technical champion of Urban Local Economic Development Strategies (URBAN LEDS) Phase II, a programme implemented by ICLEI in seven countries and funded by European Union. He has been central in ensuring that KwaDukuza Municipality mainstream low carbon emission in their developmental local government mandates. KwaDukuza Municipality has adopted a number of policies that enables the low carbon emission development trajectory i.e. KwaDukuza Municipality Low Carbon Emission Strategy & Action Plan, KwaDukuza Green Building Guidelines, and implemented number of demonstration projects. One of the key achievement of Sikhumbuzo was to influence the drastic shift in the municipality energy policy whereby council adopted a resolution that advocates that all new streetlights shall be LED lights. This led to the amendment of KwaDukuza Municipality Energy Master Plan to have a dedicated chapter on Energy Efficiency and Renewable energy. He continues to use any domestic or international platforms to advocates for the shift of focus of donor community and green financing institution to priorities secondary/intermediate cities. In 2018, KwaDukuza Municipality became a first secondary city in AFRICA to achieve a Compact of Mayors four badge for complying and providing evidence of interventions undertaken by KwaDukuza Municipality and their partners in meeting its commitment to fight and manage the impact of climate change. Mr Hlongwane is a critical voice and champion of climate change in local government space in South Africa.