Dianne Kohler Barnard | |
---|---|
Shadow Minister of Police | |
In office 2006–2015 | |
Leader | Tony Leon Helen Zille Mmusi Maimane |
Succeeded by | Zakhele Mbhele |
Shadow Minister of Health | |
In office 2005–2006 | |
Leader | Tony Leon |
Shadow Minister of Arts and Culture | |
In office 2004–2005 | |
Leader | Tony Leon |
Member of Parliament for KwaZulu-Natal | |
Assumed office 21 May 2004 | |
Personal details | |
Born | Port Elizabeth,Cape Province,Union of South Africa | 2 December 1955
Political party | Democratic Alliance |
Dianne Kohler Barnard is a South African politician and former journalist,and a Member of Parliament for the Democratic Alliance (DA). In October 2015,she was expelled from the party by the DA Federal Executive. In December 2015,the decision was lifted on appeal to the DA's Federal Legal Commission. [1]
She was born in Port Elizabeth, [2] and currently resides in KwaZulu-Natal,where she represents the Durban South constituency. [3]
Kohler Barnard spent 23 years working as a radio and print journalist. She ran the KwaZulu-Natal offices of SAfm and also presented/produced the station's afternoon news programme The Editors.
Kohler Barnard is also the former chairperson of the Broadcast,Electronic Media and Allied Workers' Union in KwaZulu-Natal,and was a founder member of the inaugural SABC HIV/Aids Committee. [2]
Kohler Barnard moved to politics in response to increasing state interference in the management of the SABC. She was elected to parliament with the DA in 2004,and was initially spokesperson on Arts and Culture. [4]
She was subsequently appointed opposition spokesperson on Health,and was a vocal critic of incumbent Health Minister Manto Tshabalala-Msimang,particularly over her support for controversial German vitamin salesman Matthias Rath. Rath attempted to sue Kohler Barnard for describing him as a "charlatan",and also tried to sue newspapers that carried the remark. [5]
Subsequently,Kohler Barnard was appointed as Shadow Minister of Police. She was also the DA's representative on the SADC observer mission to Zimbabwe for the last two elections in that country. [2]
Following a scandal (see below),she was shifted to the position of deputy spokesperson on Public Works in 2015. She was returned to the Police portfolio,but this time as Deputy Shadow Minister,in August 2017. [6]
Having previously served as Shadow Minister of Communications and Digital Technologies,Kohler Barnard was appointed Shadow Minister of State Security on 21 April 2023. [7]
Kohler Barnard was almost expelled from the DA in October 2015,when it emerged that she had controversially shared on her Facebook page a post from someone else suggesting that life in South Africa was better under former apartheid President PW Botha. She deleted it after it was on her site overnight. It appeared on Twitter as shared by the ANC some weeks later. Although it had long since been deleted on FB one of the first instructions [8] to Kohler Barnard to delete the post came from former DA leader Helen Zille,who seemed to be under the impression that the post had been shared recently. [9] [8] [10] Kohler Barnard apologised unreservedly for her action, [11] and was subsequently demoted to the position of shadow Deputy Minister of Public Works. [12]
New DA party leader Mmusi Maimane came under pressure to expel her from the party. [13] The disciplinary panel apparently recommended that Kohler Barnard be fined R20,000,be removed from all internally elected DA positions,pay for public apologies in 5 newspapers and attend a social media management course at her own expense. [14] Following this,Kohler Barnard's membership of the DA was terminated by the DA Federal Executive. [15] She then appealed the decision to the DA Federal Legal Commission,as a result of which her expulsion was suspended for a period of 5 years. [16] [17]
The controversy was alleged to harm the image of the DA,which has been trying to project itself as an anti-apartheid party, [18] [19] and also caused some serious internal tension,as some have viewed the original decisions as harsh. [20]
A media report in 2016 indicated that Kohler Barnard may not have complied with all of the various sanctions placed on her by the due date. [21]
Mike Waters is a South African politician,and former Member of Parliament for the opposition Democratic Alliance (DA),where he served as the Opposition's Deputy Chief Whip from 2014 to 2019. He served as the Shadow Minister of Health from 2006 to 2012,and as the Shadow Minister of Social Development from 2012 to 2014.
Juanita Fredrika Terblanche is a South African politician. Prior to 2017,she was a Member of Parliament with the Democratic Alliance and the Deputy Shadow Minister of Science and Technology.
John Henry Steenhuisen is a South African politician who is currently serving as Minister of Agriculture since June 2024. He has been the leader of the Democratic Alliance (DA) since November 2020,having served as the interim leader for one year from November 2019. He served as the twentieth leader of the Opposition from October 2019 to June 2024. Pursuant to the 2024 South African general election,he was appointed to the third cabinet of Cyril Ramaphosa when the DA joined the Government of National Unity (GNU).
Mbali Ntuli is a South African politician and a former member of the Democratic Alliance (DA). She is the former Provincial Campaigns Director for the party in KwaZulu-Natal (KZN). She resigned as a member of the KwaZulu-Natal Legislature in March 2022,where she served as the DA KZN Spokesperson on Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs (CoGTA). She previously served as leader and Chairperson of the Democratic Alliance Youth. She was elected to this position in May 2013.
Mmusi Aloysias Maimane is a South African politician,businessman,and leader of Build One South Africa,a political party. Maimane is also the former Leader of South Africa's opposition Democratic Alliance (DA) political party from 10 May 2015 to 23 October 2019,and the former Leader of the Opposition in the National Assembly of South Africa from 29 May 2014 to 24 October 2019. He became the first black South African to lead the DA.
Glynnis Breytenbach is a former prosecutor for the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) of South Africa and a Member of Parliament for the Democratic Alliance (DA). She was Shadow Minister of Justice when the DA was the official opposition to the ANC. In this capacity,she has called for an end to ongoing political interference that has compromised the integrity of the NPA. Her protracted dispute with the NPA over her suspension in 2012 from its Specialised Commercial Crime Unit was covered extensively in the media. In 2017,she published a memoir,Rule of Law,and in 2018 was shortlisted for the National Director of Public Prosecutions post at the NPA,but later withdrew her candidacy.
The Democratic Alliance held its 6th Federal Congress in Port Elizabeth,Eastern Cape from 9 May to 10 May 2015. After incumbent leader Helen Zille announced she would not seek reelection,the Congress became focused on the contest to succeed her.
General elections were held in South Africa on 8 May 2019 to elect a new President,National Assembly and provincial legislatures in each province. These were the sixth elections held since the end of apartheid in 1994 and determined who would become the next President of South Africa.
Phumzile Thelma Van Damme is a South African tech consultant and activist who specialises in combatting political disinformation and misinformation. A former politician,she represented the Democratic Alliance (DA) in the National Assembly of South Africa between May 2014 and May 2021. She was the party's Shadow Minister of Communications from October 2015 to December 2020.
The Shadow Cabinet of Mmusi Maimane was formed on 5 June 2014 in South Africa following his election as Parliamentary Leader of the Democratic Alliance and Leader of the Opposition on 29 May 2014. The Democratic Alliance parliamentary caucus also elected other caucus leadership. John Steenhuisen was elected Chief Whip with Anchen Dreyer as Caucus Chairperson. These elections all occurred following the 2014 general elections,in which the Democratic Alliance retained its post as the Official Opposition in the National Assembly of South Africa.
Thomas Charles Ravenscroft Walters is a South African politician of the Democratic Alliance (DA) who has been serving as a Member of the Western Cape Provincial Parliament since May 2024. Previously,he served as a Member of the Gauteng Provincial Legislature from 2009 to 2014 and then as a Member of the National Assembly of South Africa from 2014 until 2024. In 2012,Walters was elected Deputy Federal Council Chairperson of the Democratic Alliance,and has been deputising Federal Council Chairperson Helen Zille since 2019. He deputised James Selfe from 2012 to 2019. Walters was the party's Shadow Minister and Shadow Deputy Minister of Rural Development and Land Reform.
The Electoral Commission of South Africa (IEC) announced on 20 March 2019 that a record number of 48 parties had registered candidates for the national parliamentary election. This is 19 more parties that contested the 2014 national elections. In the provincial legislature elections,the total number of parties registering candidates were:
Annette Steyn is a South African retired politician,formerly a Member of the National Assembly for the official opposition Democratic Alliance (DA). Steyn was first elected to Parliament in 2009 and served in the Shadow Cabinet in various positions. She was also at one stage the DA Eastern Cape Provincial Chairperson.
Mergan Chetty is a South African politician and a Member of Parliament (MP) for the Democratic Alliance (DA).
Siviwe Gwarube is a South African politician who is currently serving as Minister of Basic Education since July 2024. A member of the Democratic Alliance (DA),she was the Chief Whip of the Official Opposition between August 2022 and June 2024. She joined the National Assembly of South Africa in the May 2019 general election.
Thandeka Moloko Mbabama is a South African politician of the Democratic Alliance who served as a Member of the National Assembly of South Africa from November 2016 until May 2024. Within the DA's Shadow Cabinet,she was Shadow Deputy Minister of Rural Development and Land Reform from January 2017 until June 2019 and Shadow Deputy Minister of Agriculture,Land Reform and Rural Development between June 2019 and May 2024.
Bridget Staff Masango is a South African Democratic Alliance politician from Gauteng who has been a Member of the National Assembly since October 2015. Within the DA's Shadow Cabinet,she served as Shadow Minister of Social Development from October 2015 until June 2024. From May 2014 to October 2015,Masango served as a permanent delegate to the National Council of Provinces.
Mimmy Martha Gondwe is a South African politician serving as the Deputy Minister of Higher Education since 2024. A member of the Democratic Alliance,Gondwe was Shadow Deputy Minister of State Security from 2019 to 2020,the Shadow Deputy Minister of Public Service and Administration between 2020 and 2023,and the Shadow Minister of Public Enterprises from 2023 until 2024. She has been a Member of Parliament (MP) in the National Assembly since May 2019.
Mandlenkosi Sicelo Mabika is a South African politician who was first elected to the National Assembly in 2014 as a member of the National Freedom Party. He joined the Democratic Alliance in March 2019 and was re-elected to the National Assembly at that year's election in May.
Luyolo Mphithi is a South African politician who has been a Member of the National Assembly of South Africa since 2019. A member of the Democratic Alliance,he served as Shadow Minister of Women,Youth and Persons with Disabilities in the Presidency from 2019 to 2023 and the Shadow Minister of Human Settlements from 2023 to 2024. Mphithi served as the Federal Leader of the DA's youth organisation from 2018 until his resignation in 2022. Luyolo Mphithi was elected as Vice President of the African Liberal Youth for democracy in Dakar,Senegal in 2022. He also serves as a Bureau Regional member of the International Federation of Liberal Youth (IFLRY).