# Bulawayo South

Bulawayo South is a constituency represented in the National Assembly of the Parliament of Zimbabwe, located in Bulawayo. Its current MP since a 2023 by-election is Raj Modi of ZANU–PF. Notable former MPs for the constituency include Eddie Cross and David Coltart.

## Profile

Bulawayo South is on the southern end of the city of Bulawayo. It is a predominantly black working-class area, with some middle- and upper-class areas. Roughly 85% of the inhabitants of the constituency are Ndebele-speaking and roughly 10% of the constituency is Shona-speaking. There are also several thousand white Zimbabweans and Indian Zimbabweans who live in the constituency as well. The working class area is centered around the Bulawayo suburbs of Sizinda, Tshabalala, and Sidojiwe (Flats), and factories as well as other industrial buildings can be found in the Belmont and Donnington industrial area. To the south, the constituency has suburbs Montrose, Newton West, Morningside, Southworld, West Somerton, and Barham Green. Prior to the 1990 election the constituency was one of the 20 white minority constituencies. The constituency has developed into a stronghold of ZANU-PF and Robert Mugabe opposition. The MDC has become a dominant presence in Bulawayo South and in 2000 saw the ZANU-PF candidate suffer a heavy loss of 51.6% of the vote. In the 2005 election, however, the ZANU-PF made a small but significant gain, while the MDC lost over 8,000 votes due in large part to poor voter turnout in the 2005 general election. The decline in support from 2005 to 2000 can also be attributed to constituency redistricting. David Coltart has remained a key member of the MDC as one of its highest-ranking members. Coltart is currently the MDC's Secretary for Legal Affairs and the Shadow Minister for Justice and Legal Affairs.

## History

In the 2023 general election, Nicola Watson of the Citizens Coalition for Change defeated the incumbent MP, Raj Modi of ZANU–PF. On 9 October 2023, Watson was recalled from Parliament along with 14 other CCC MPs after the party's purported interim secretary-general, Sengezo Tshabangu, wrote to Speaker Jacob Mudenda informing him that Watson and the other MPs had been expelled from the party. A by-election, in which Watson was barred from running, was held on 9 December 2023, in which Modi was reelected to the seat.

## Members

| Election | Name | Party |
| 1914 | Gordon Forbes | |
| 1920 | Francis Hadfield | Ind. Labour |
| 1924 | Charles Folliot Birney | Rhodesia Party |
| 1924 | Henry Robert Barbour | Rhodesia Party |
| 1928 | Harry Davies | Labour |
| 1933 | Harry Davies | Labour |
| 1934 | Harry Davies | Labour |
| 1939 | Donald MacIntyre | Labour |
| 1946 | James Stuart McNeillie | Labour |
| 1948 | Henry Alfred Holmes | United |
| 1954 | John Wrathall | United Federal |
| 1958 | Benny Goldstein | United Federal |
| 1962 | John Phillips | Rhodesian Front |
| 1965 | John Phillips | Rhodesian Front |
| 1970 | Arthur McCarter | Rhodesian Front |
| 1974 | Ian Rees-Davies | Rhodesian Front |
| 1977 | Desmond Chalmers | Rhodesian Front |
| 1979 | Wally Stuttaford | Rhodesian Front |
| 1980 | Wally Stuttaford | Rhodesian Front |
| 1982 by-election | Bob Nixon | Independent |
| 1985 | Graham Austen Biffen | CAZ |
| 1990 | Lot Senda | ZANU–PF |
| 1995 | Zenzo Nsimbi | ZANU–PF |
| 2000 | David Coltart | MDC |
| 2005 | David Coltart | MDC |
| 2008 | Eddie Cross | MDC–T |
| 2013 | Eddie Cross | MDC–T |
| 2018 | Raj Modi | ZANU–PF |
| 2023 | Nicola Watson | CCC |
| 2023 by-election | Raj Modi | ZANU–PF |

## Election results
### 2000s

General Election 2008: Bulawayo South :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | MDC–T | Eddie Cross | 2,764 | 55 | −20.8 |
| | MDC-M | Jethro Mpofu | 1,605 | 32 | +32 |
| | ZANU–PF | Jimmy Nleya | 483 | 9.6 | −17 |
| | Independent | Marylin Ndiweni | 112 | 2.2 | N/A |
| | United People's Party (Zimbabwe) | Tobias Kamambo | 58 | 1.2 | N/A |
| | Patriotic Union of MaNdebeleland | Wilson Bancinyane | 0 | 0.0 | N/A |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 1,159 | 23 | −29.2 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 5,022 | 21.6 | −14.8 |
| | MDC–T hold | MDC–T hold | Swing | | |
General Election 2005: Bulawayo South :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | MDC | David Coltart | 12,120 | 75.8 | −8.9 |
| | ZANU–PF | Sithembiso Nyoni | 3,777 | 23.6 | +10.6 |
| | Independent | Charles Mpofu | 84 | 0.5 | N/A |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 8,343 | 52.2 | −19.5 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 15,981 | 36.4 | +0.6 |
| | MDC hold | MDC hold | Swing | | |
General Election 2000: Bulawayo South :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | MDC | David Coltart | 20,781 | 84.7 | N/A |
| | ZANU–PF | Callistus Ndlovu | 3,193 | 13.0 | −51.6 |
| | Independent | Others | 552 | 2.2 | N/A |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 17,588 | 71.7 | |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 24,526 | 35.8 | |
| | MDC gain from ZANU–PF | MDC gain from ZANU–PF | Swing | | |

### 1990s

General Election 1995: Bulawayo South :
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| ZANU–PF | Zenzo Nsimbi | 15,631 | 64.6 | N/A |
| FPZ | Ega Sansole | 8,558 | 35.4 | N/A |
| ZANU–PF hold | ZANU–PF hold | Swing | | |

### 1980s

General Election 1985: Bulawayo South :
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| CAZ | Graham Austen Biffen | 1,354 | 74.9 | −17.1 |
| IZG | Robert Graeme Nixon | 454 | 25.1 | N/A |
| CAZ hold | CAZ hold | Swing | | |
General Election 1980: Bulawayo South :
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| RF | Wallace Evelyn Stuttaford | 3,715 | 92.0 | N/A |
| Independent | Francis Robert Bertrand | 289 | 7.2 | N/A |
| Independent | John Francis Betch | 36 | 0.9 | N/A |
| RF hold | RF hold | Swing | | |

### 1970s

General Election 1979: Bulawayo South :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | RF | Wallace Evelyn Stuttaford | 4,140 | 88.1 | N/A |
| | Independent | Francis Robert Bertrand | 500 | 10.7 | N/A |
| | Independent | John Francis Betch | 57 | 1.2 | N/A |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 3,640 | 77.5 | −13.0 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 4,697 | | |
| | RF hold | RF hold | Swing | | |
General Election 1977: Bulawayo South :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | RF | George Desmond Chalmers | 701 | 95.2 | N/A |
| | RAP | Ian Norman Berry | 35 | 4.8 | N/A |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 666 | 90.5 | |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 736 | 69.5 | |
| | RF hold | RF hold | Swing | | |