David John Maynier (born 22 October 1968) 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 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, e ...

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 A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with Bicameralism, bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house ...

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.

Background

Maynier matriculated from

Grey High School Grey High School is a semi-private English speaking high school (grades 8 - 12) for boys situated in the suburb of Mill Park in Port Elizabeth in the Eastern Cape province of South Africa. It is one of the top sporting schools in the country, w ...

Port Elizabeth Gqeberha (), formerly Port Elizabeth and colloquially often referred to as P.E., is a major seaport and the most populous city in the Eastern Cape province of South Africa. It is the seat of the Nelson Mandela Bay Metropolitan Municipality, S ...

, and holds a Bachelor of Arts (Honours) degree from the

University of Cape Town The University of Cape Town (UCT) ( af, Universiteit van Kaapstad, xh, Yunibesithi ya yaseKapa) is a public research university in Cape Town, South Africa. Established in 1829 as the South African College, it was granted full university statu ...

and a master's degree in Public Administration and Management from Harvard's

Kennedy School of Government The Harvard Kennedy School (HKS), officially the John F. Kennedy School of Government, is the school of public policy and government of Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts. The school offers master's degrees in public policy, public a ...

. He is a former submarine officer and navy diver in the South African Navy. Maynier joined the Democratic Alliance as a researcher in 1999 and quickly rose to the position of Director of Research. In August 2000 he became Chief of Staff to party leader

Tony Leon Anthony James Leon (born 15 December 1956) is a South African politician who served as leader of the opposition from 1999-2007 as leader of the Democratic Alliance (DA). He led the DA from its inception in 2000, until his retirement from lead ...

- a position he served until June 2004, when he became Assistant to the Chairperson of the Federal Executive. In February 2005 he was again promoted to Director of Fundraising, and he was awarded the party's 'Top Fundraiser of the Year' award at the 2007 Federal Congress, after modernising and professionalising the party's fundraising system. In 2008, he was appointed the DA's Deputy CEO with special responsibility for the

Western Cape The Western Cape is a province of South Africa, situated on the south-western coast of the country. It is the fourth largest of the nine provinces with an area of , and the third most populous, with an estimated 7 million inhabitants in 2020 ...

, the province where the DA has its strongest support base in South Africa. In 2009 he was the party's Campaign Manager in the

for the 2009 general election. The party won 51.3% of the vote in the province—up significantly from 27% in 2004. The result allowed

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 ...

to become Premier of the Western Cape, and saw the DA take control of the provincial legislature in an alliance with the

Independent Democrats The Independent Democrats (ID) was a South African political party, formed by former Pan Africanist Congress member Patricia de Lille in 2003 via floor crossing legislation. The party's platform was premised on opposition to corruption, with ...

Member of Parliament

After managing the DA's successful Western Cape electoral campaign, Maynier became a Member of Parliament, after appearing eleventh on the party's Western Cape national list. Following the election he was appointed Shadow Minister of Defence and Military Veterans. In his maiden speech to Parliament, Maynier issued a damning critique of the National Defence Force's state of combat readiness—telling Defence Minister Lindiwe Sisulu: On 2 August 2009, Maynier announced that a crisis in South Africa's

National Conventional Arms Control Committee National may refer to: Common uses * Nation or country ** Nationality – a ''national'' is a person who is subject to a nation, regardless of whether the person has full rights as a citizen Places in the United States * National, Maryland, c ...

had resulted in weapons deals being conducted between South African firms and rogue states like

North Korea North Korea, officially the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the northern half of the Korean Peninsula and shares borders with China and Russia to the north, at the Yalu (Amnok) and ...

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkm ...

and

Libya Libya (; ar, ليبيا, Lībiyā), officially the State of Libya ( ar, دولة ليبيا, Dawlat Lībiyā), is a country in the Maghreb region in North Africa. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to the north, Egypt to the east, Su ...

. This included the committee authorising the sale of radar detectors for use on

n submarines, and aviator

G-suit A g-suit, or anti-''g'' suit, is a flight suit worn by aviators and astronauts who are subject to high levels of acceleration force ( g). It is designed to prevent a black-out and g-LOC (g-induced loss of consciousness) caused by the blood pool ...

s to Iran. On 27 March 2013 Maynier led the thrust for a parliamentary inquiry into the SANDF's intervention in the Central African Republic coup. In 2015, Maynier was appointed Shadow Minister of Finance by the new DA leader Mmusi Maimane. In March 2019, the Democratic Alliance revealed their election lists for the 2019 elections. Maynier was announced as a candidate for the

. He left Parliament on 7 May 2019.

Western Cape provincial government

On 22 May 2019, Maynier was sworn in as a Member of the

. The following day, 23 May 2019, he was named the new Provincial Minister of Finance and Economic Opportunities. On 9 December 2019, Maynier announced the establishment of a task team to address congestion issues at the

Port of Cape Town The Port of Cape Town is the port of the city of Cape Town, South Africa. It is situated in Table Bay. Because of its position along one of the world's busiest trade routes it is one of the busiest ports in South Africa, handling the largest ...

container terminal. On 22 April 2022, premier Alan Winde announced that Maynier would be taking over from

Debbie Schäfer Deborah Anne "Debbie" Schäfer (born 18 December 1966) 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 ...

as the Provincial Minister of Education when she leaves office on 15 May 2022. DA chief whip

Mireille Wenger Mireille Mary Wenger (born 1980 or 1981) 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 ...

would then replace Maynier as the Provincial Minister of Finance and Economic Opportunities. Maynier officially became the Provincial Minister of Education 16 May 2022 as the changes made by premier Winde took effect.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Maynier, David Living people Democratic Alliance (South Africa) politicians 1968 births Members of the National Assembly of South Africa Harvard Kennedy School alumni University of Cape Town alumni Mason Fellows