Irene Mutsila

• Party — African National Congress • Office1 — Member of the National Assembly • Term Start1 — June 1999 • Term End1 — April 2004 • Born — 5 June 1949 • Office — Mayor of Vhembe • Constituency1 — Northern Province • Office2 — Delegate to the National Council of Provinces • Term Start2 — May 1994 • Term End2 — June 1999 • Constituency Am2 — Northern Transvaal • Term Start — March 2006 • Successor — Falaza Mdaka • Term End — July 2007 • Died — 29 July 2017 • Place of death — Polokwane, Limpopo Republic of South Africa • Birthplace — Sibasa, Northern Transvaal Union of South Africa

Mutsila was born on 5 June 1949 in Sibasa outside Thohoyandou in the former Northern Transvaal. She was active in the anti-apartheid movement and a veteran of the ANC Women's League. She was also a poet and published in Staffrider. After the end of apartheid, she served in the Provincial Executive Committee of the ANC's Limpopo branch.

In South Africa's first post-apartheid elections in 1994, Mutsila was elected to an ANC seat in the Northern Transvaal caucus of the Senate (later the National Council of Provinces). After a term there, she was elected to the National Assembly in the 1999 general election, again serving the Northern Transvaal (by then renamed Northern Province).

In mid-March 2006, after the 2006 local elections, Mutsila was elected as the first female executive mayor of Limpopo's Vhembe District Municipality. However, her relationship with the ANC-controlled municipal council quickly deteriorated into what a local newspaper called a "power struggle". The situation worsened in May 2007, when she appointed a new municipal manager. Complaining that Mutsila had not consulted them before making the appointment, the council resolved to suspend her in late June 2007. The council subsequently alleged that the appointment of the municipal manager had been corrupt and grossly irregular. In addition, it said that Mutsila had defied the council's instruction to her to revoke the appointment. In late July 2007, the council passed a motion of no-confidence in Mutsila, removing her from office and replacing her with ANC regional chairperson Falaza Mdaka.

Mutsila died on 29 July 2017 at a private hospital in Polokwane following a short illness. President Jacob Zuma granted her a special provincial official funeral.