The Democratic Alliance is a South African political party and the official opposition to the ruling African National Congress (ANC). The party is broadly centrist,and has been attributed both centre-left and centre-right policies. It is a member of Liberal International and the Africa Liberal Network. The DA traces its roots to the founding of the anti-apartheid Progressive Party in 1959,with many mergers and name changes between that time and the present. The DA ideologically shows a variety of liberal tendencies,including social liberalism,classical liberalism,and conservative liberalism.
Otta Helene Maree,known as Helen Zille,is a South African politician. She has served as the Chairperson of the Federal Council of the Democratic Alliance since 20 October 2019. From 2009 until 2019,she was the Premier of the Western Cape province for two five-year terms,and a member of the Western Cape Provincial Parliament. She served as Federal Leader of the Democratic Alliance from 2007 to 2015 and as Mayor of Cape Town from 2006 to 2009.
Daniel Plato,known as Dan Plato,is a South African politician and a Member of the Western Cape Provincial Parliament since January 2022,previously serving from June 2011 until October 2018. He is the former mayor of Cape Town,a position he held for two nonconsecutive terms from May 2009 until June 2011 and again from November 2018 until October 2021. From June 2011 to October 2018,he was the Western Cape Provincial Minister of Community Safety.
David John Maynier is a South African politician who has been the Western Cape Provincial Minister of Education since May 2022 and a Member of the Western Cape Provincial Parliament since May 2019. He served as the Western Cape Provincial Minister of Finance and Economic Opportunities from May 2019 to May 2022. Maynier was a Member of Parliament from 2009 to 2019,where he was Shadow Minister of Finance from 2015 to 2019 and the Shadow Minister of Defence and Military Veterans from 2009 to 2015.
Albert Theo Fritz is a South African politician and advocate. He was the Western Cape Provincial Minister of Community Safety for two nonconconsecutive terms from 2010 to 2011 and again from 2019 until his dismissal from the position amid sexual misconduct allegations in 2022. He was a Member of the Western Cape Provincial Parliament from 2010 until his resignation from the DA in 2022. He served as the interim Leader of the Democratic Alliance (DA) in the Western Cape from the suspension and resignation of Bonginkosi Madikizela in April 2021 until his resignation from the party in March 2022. He was also the deputy DA provincial leader 2017 to 2021. Fritz previously served as the Western Cape Provincial Minister of Social Development from 2011 to 2019. From 2009 to 2010,he was a Member of the National Assembly and the Shadow Deputy Minister of Correctional Services.
Bonginkosi Success Madikizela is a South African politician.
Alan Richard Winde is a South African politician and businessman. He is the 8th and current Premier of the Western Cape,having held the position since 2019. He has been a Member of the Western Cape Provincial Parliament since 1999. Winde is a member of the Democratic Alliance.
Beverley Ann Schäfer is a South African politician serving as the Deputy Speaker of the Western Cape Provincial Parliament since May 2019. She served as the Western Cape Provincial Minister of Economic Opportunities from November 2018 to May 2019. Between June 2014 and October 2018,she served as the Chairperson of the Portfolio Committee on Economic Opportunities,Tourism and Agriculture in the provincial parliament. She was the Cape Town City Councillor for Ward 54 from 2011 to 2014. She is a member of the Democratic Alliance (DA).
The 2019 Western Cape provincial election was held on 8 May 2019 to elect the 6th Western Cape Provincial Parliament. It was the sixth provincial election held since the establishment of the provincial legislature in 1994.
Ivan Henry Meyer is a South African politician who has been serving as the Western Cape Provincial Minister of Agriculture since 2019. He has held multiple positions in the provincial cabinet. Meyer was elected to the Western Cape Provincial Parliament in 2009. He has also been the Federal Chairperson of the Democratic Alliance (DA) since November 2020,a position he previously held in an acting capacity from November 2019 to November 2020. Meyer had served as the First Deputy Federal Chairperson of the DA from 2010 to 2012,and again from 2015 to 2019. He was also the provincial leader of the party in the Western Cape from 2012 to 2015.
Deborah Anne "Debbie" Schäfer is a South African politician and lawyer who served as the Western Cape Provincial Minister of Education and a Member of the Western Cape Provincial Parliament for the Democratic Alliance (DA) from 2014 to 2022. Prior to serving in the provincial government,Schäfer served as a Member of the National Assembly from 2009 to 2014.
Anroux Johanna Marais is a South African politician of the Democratic Alliance (DA). She has been serving as the Western Cape Provincial Minister of Cultural Affairs and Sport since 2015. She has been a Member of the Western Cape Provincial Parliament since 2004.
An indirect mayoral election was held at a special sitting of the Cape Town City Council on 6 November 2018 to determine the successor of former mayor Patricia de Lille after she resigned on 31 October. Former mayor and Provincial Minister of Community Safety,Dan Plato,of the Democratic Alliance won the election as the party holds a two-thirds majority in the city council.
Theunis Louis "Theuns" Botha is a retired South African politician of the Democratic Alliance. Previously,he served as the Western Provincial Minister of Cultural Affairs and as the Western Cape Provincial Minister of Health. He also served as a Member of the Western Cape Provincial Parliament from 2004 to 2015. He was Leader of the Opposition in the Provincial Parliament from 2004 to 2009 and Leader of the Democratic Alliance in the Western Cape from 2002 to 2012. Botha was also Deputy Provincial Leader of the party from 2012 to 2015.
Tertuis Alfred Simmers is a South African politician who has been serving as the Western Cape Provincial Minister of Infrastructure since April 2022. He previously served as the Western Cape Provincial Minister of Human Settlements from May 2019 to April 2022. He has been a Member of the Western Cape Provincial Parliament since 2017. Simmers is a member of the Democratic Alliance.
Anton Wilhelm Bredell is a South African politician for the Democratic Alliance. He is the current Western Cape Provincial Minister of Local Government,Environmental Affairs and Development Planning and a Member of the Western Cape Provincial Parliament.
The Democratic Alliance (DA) held its leadership conference virtually between 31 October and 1 November 2020. It was originally scheduled to be held in May 2020,but was postponed due to the COVID-19 outbreak. The previous congress was held in 2018. In October 2019,then-party leader Mmusi Maimane announced that the party would seek to hold a policy conference and early elective congress in 2020. Maimane and former party chair Athol Trollip have since resigned from their positions and the DA. The party elected John Steenhuisen and Ivan Meyer as their interim successors,respectively.
Wendy Felecia Philander is a South African politician serving as a Member of the Western Cape Provincial Parliament since August 2018. She is the chairperson of the Standing Committee on Health. She was previously a Member of the Mayoral Committee of the Drakenstein Local Municipality. Philander is a member of the Democratic Alliance.
Mireille Mary Wenger is a South African politician who has been the Western Cape Provincial Minister of Finance and Economic Opportunities since May 2022 and a Democratic Alliance (DA) Member of the Western Cape Provincial Parliament since May 2014. She was Chief Whip of the Majority Party from May 2019 to May 2022.
The Executive Council of the Western Cape is the cabinet of the executive branch of the provincial government in the South African province of the Western Cape. The Members of the Executive Council (MECs) are appointed from among the members of the Western Cape Provincial Legislature by the Premier of the Western Cape,an office held since the 2019 general election by Alan Winde. The council is referred to as the Executive Council in the national Constitution,but is denoted the Provincial Cabinet of the Western Cape in the Western Cape Constitution.
