Nicole Graham: Seven facts on DA eThekwini mayoral candidate

The DA’s eThekwini Municipality mayoral candidate, Nicole Graham, worked hard serving as a local councillor and then as a member of the city’s executive committee to get to her current role as the party’s caucus leader.

Now up for nomination as the DA’s mayoral candidate for the hung eThekwini Municipality, here are seven top facts that you may not already know about Nicole Graham’s rise to political prominence.

eThekwini Municipality is continuing with its inaugural council meeting on Wednesday at 2pm where a new mayor is expected to be elected.

Graham rises as new young city leader

Here are a few facts about Graham, who just may or may not, emerge as the new eThekwini Municipality mayor, once the voting has been finalised in the city.

• Graham has worked full-time as an eThekwini Municipality executive committee member since March 2018 until the present.
• She is DA’s caucus leader for eThekwini Municipality and was recently beaten by Francois Rodgers in the party’s election for provincial leader.
• She has served for more than ten years as a full time councillor in the eThekwini Municipality and has worked as ward councillor in suburbs including Glenwood and Umbilo 
• She is originally from the Bluff where she matriculated at Grosvenor Girls High School.
• She studied politics and law at the University of KwaZulu-Natal, where she graduated with a Bachelor of Arts: Political Science And Legal Studies.
• Graham was selected to participate in numerous global leadership programs, namely the Swedish “Women’s Political Leadership” course hosted by the ICLD; the US’s American Council of Young Political Leaders’ Exchange and Freedom House’s “Empowerment of a New Generation of Leaders in Southern Africa”. She is a graduate of the DA Young Leaders’ Program (2010).
• Graham is also an accomplished university British Parliamentary debater, ranking 8th at the Pan-African University Debate Competition in 2011.

Graham describes herself as follows in her LinkedIn profile:  “Due to the nature of local government, I am able to deal with diverse groups of people and can effectively negotiate conflict. I am a skilled public speaker with good debating and speaking experience.”

“I have more than three years experience in managing a team of 50 people and enjoy training and equipping others. I think and adapt quickly and am comfortable thinking outside the box.  I care deeply about the state of the world and am committed to my role in building a happier and fairer society,” she wrote.