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Ivan Henry Meyer (born 28 March 1962) is a
South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...
n politician who has been serving as the Western Cape Provincial Minister of Agriculture, Economic Development and Tourism since 2019. He has held multiple positions in the provincial cabinet. Meyer was elected to the
Western Cape Provincial Parliament The Western Cape Provincial Parliament (WCPP) is the legislature of the Western Cape province of South Africa. It is located at 7 Wale Street in Cape Town. The Provincial Parliament, along with the other provincial legislatures of South Africa, ...
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.


Career

Meyer served as the chief director of Provincial Training in the Corporate Services Directorate of the Western Cape Provincial Administration. He was a Senior Lecturer in Public Policy and Local Governance at the
University of Stellenbosch Stellenbosch University (SU) (, ) is a public research university situated in Stellenbosch, a town in the Western Cape province of South Africa. Stellenbosch is the oldest university in South Africa and the oldest extant university in Sub-Sahara ...
. He has also published various works in the fields of education, housing, local government and public administration. Many of his poems were published in the 2012 Afrikaans anthology, ''Teater van ‘n Velore Tyd''.Dr Ivan Henry Meyer
''Western Cape Government''. Retrieved on 25 January 2019.


Political career

In April 2009, Meyer was elected to the
Western Cape Provincial Parliament The Western Cape Provincial Parliament (WCPP) is the legislature of the Western Cape province of South Africa. It is located at 7 Wale Street in Cape Town. The Provincial Parliament, along with the other provincial legislatures of South Africa, ...
. He was inaugurated as a Member on 6 May 2009. The following day, 7 May 2009, Premier
Helen Zille Otta Helene Maree (''née'' Zille ; born 9 March 1951), 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 w ...
named her Provincial Cabinet and appointed Meyer to the post of Provincial Minister of Social Development. He was sworn in on the same day. He was elected as one of three Deputy Federal Chairpersons of the DA in July 2010. Meyer served as Provincial Minister of Social Development until September 2010, when Zille reshuffled her Provincial Cabinet and announced that
Patricia de Lille Patricia de Lille (née Lindt; born 17 February 1951) is a South African politician who is the current Minister of Tourism and leader of the political party Good. She served as Minister of Public Works and Infrastructure from 2019 to 2023. S ...
, the Leader of the Independent Democrats, would succeed Meyer. He was appointed Provincial Minister of Cultural Affairs and Sport, succeeding Sakkie Jenner. In October 2012, he declared his candidacy to replace
Theuns Botha 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 ...
as Provincial Leader of the Western Cape. Botha had announced his intention to retire as leader, and Meyer was elected unopposed at the party's Provincial Congress on 13 October 2012. He resigned as a Deputy Federal Chairperson on the same day. In May 2014, he was re-elected for a second term as a Member of the Western Cape Provincial Parliament. Zille appointed him to the post of Provincial Minister of Finance. He took office on 26 May 2014. Meyer announced in April 2015 that he would stand down as Provincial Leader of the Democratic Alliance. He was succeeded by
Patricia de Lille Patricia de Lille (née Lindt; born 17 February 1951) is a South African politician who is the current Minister of Tourism and leader of the political party Good. She served as Minister of Public Works and Infrastructure from 2019 to 2023. S ...
. He announced at the party's Provincial Congress that he was running to be one of the DA's three federal chairperson deputies. Meyer was elected on 10 May 2015 at the party's Federal Congress as the first of the three deputies. In April 2018, Meyer was re-elected as a deputy federal chairperson. He served alongside Mike Waters and Refiloe Nt'sekhe. In May 2019, newly elected premier
Alan Winde Alan Richard Winde (born 18 March 1965) 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 si ...
appointed Meyer as Provincial Minister of Agriculture. In October 2019, Meyer announced his candidacy for the post of interim Federal Chairperson of the Democratic Alliance. The post became vacant after party veteran
Athol Trollip Roland Athol Price Trollip (born 12 March 1964) is a South African politician and provincial chairman of ActionSA in the Eastern Cape. He currently serves as the Parliamentary Leader of ActionSA in the National Assembly. He was previously a me ...
resigned. He faced Nomafrench Mbombo and Khume Ramulifho for the position. Meyer won the election. He was elected to a full term in 2020, and re-elected in 2023. Having been re-elected to the Provincial Parliament in the 2024 provincial election, Meyer was reappointed as Provincial Minister of Agriculture; he now leads the provincial Tourism and Economic Development departments as well.


China and Taiwan

Following Meyer's January 2025 visit to
Taiwan Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia. The main geography of Taiwan, island of Taiwan, also known as ''Formosa'', lies between the East China Sea, East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocea ...
,
China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...
accused Meyer of violating the one-China principle and of "interfering in China’s internal affairs". In response the Chinese government declared that Meyer and his family members are prohibited from entering the mainland in addition to the
Hong Kong Hong Kong)., Legally Hong Kong, China in international treaties and organizations. is a special administrative region of China. With 7.5 million residents in a territory, Hong Kong is the fourth most densely populated region in the wor ...
and
Macao Macau or Macao is a special administrative region of the People's Republic of China (PRC). With a population of about people and a land area of , it is the most densely populated region in the world. Formerly a Portuguese colony, the ter ...
Special Administrative Regions of China. The sanction also prohibited Meyer from conducting economic and trade exchanges with Chinese citizens and institutions. The visit resulted in criticism from
African National Congress The African National Congress (ANC) is a political party in South Africa. It originated as a liberation movement known for its opposition to apartheid and has governed the country since 1994, when the 1994 South African general election, fir ...
party members in the Western Cape legislature, accusing Meyer of risking trade and diplomatic ties between the Western Cape and China. The DA stated that they had "discussed" the issue with both Meyer and Chinese government representatives. Meyer's father, Piet Meyer, was previously South African ambassador to Taiwan.


Personal life

He is married and has children.


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Meyer, Ivan Living people Democratic Alliance (South Africa) politicians Members of the Western Cape Provincial Parliament Coloureds 1962 births