Jan Johannes van Wyk (born 17 October 1969) is a Namibian politician who has served as a Member of the

National Assembly of Namibia The National Assembly is the lower chamber of Namibia's bicameral Parliament. Its laws must be approved by the National Council, the upper house. Since 2014, it has a total of 104 members. 96 members are directly elected through a system of cl ...

since 2015, first as a representative for the United People's Movement (UPM) and later for the

Popular Democratic Movement The Popular Democratic Movement (PDM), formerly Democratic Turnhalle Alliance (DTA), is an amalgamation of political parties in Namibia, registered as one singular party for representation purposes. In coalition with the United Democratic Front ...

(PDM) from 2020 onwards. He is the UPM's current vice-president and former national chairperson. Van Wyk represented the UPM on the Rehoboth Town Council from 2010 to 2015 and was the UPM's sole parliamentary representative before the party formed a pact with the PDM ahead of the 2019 general election.

Early life and career

Van Wyk was born on 17 October 1969 in Rehoboth in

South West Africa South West Africa was a territory under Union of South Africa, South African administration from 1915 to 1990. Renamed ''Namibia'' by the United Nations in 1968, Independence of Namibia, it became independent under this name on 21 March 1990. ...

, now

Namibia Namibia, officially the Republic of Namibia, is a country on the west coast of Southern Africa. Its borders include the Atlantic Ocean to the west, Angola and Zambia to the north, Botswana to the east and South Africa to the south; in the no ...

, and matriculated in 1988. He obtained multiple degrees from Cambridge Tutorial College and the

De Montfort University De Montfort University Leicester (DMU) is a public university in the city of Leicester, England. It was established in accordance with the Further and Higher Education Act 1992, Further and Higher Education Act in 1992 as a degree awarding body ...

. Prior to becoming active in politics, he worked as a human resources practitioner.

Political career

Van Wyk joined the Rehoboth Democratic Movement, the original name for the United People's Movement (UPM), before the November 2010 local elections and was appointed the party's inaugural national chairperson. He was also elected to the Rehoboth Town Council as one of two UPM councillors. In November 2014, the UPM won a seat in the National Assembly. He filled that seat on 20 March 2015. In August 2019, the UPM and

(PDM) formed an electoral alliance to challenge the governing South West African Peoples Organisation (SWAPO) ahead of the November general election. The UPM and PDM would remain separate political parties, yet only field candidates under the PDM banner. Van Wyk, now vice-president of the UPM, openly endorsed the candidacy of PDM leader and presidential candidate McHenry Venaani. SWAPO retained their majority and Van Wyk was re-elected as the PDM's support surged. He took office for his second term on 20 March 2020.

References

External links

Van Wyk, Jan Johannes – Parliament of Namibia
{{DEFAULTSORT:Van Wyk, Jan Living people 1969 births Alumni of De Montfort University Members of the National Assembly (Namibia) Popular Democratic Movement politicians 21st-century Namibian politicians Coloured Namibian people People from Rehoboth, Namibia Politicians from Hardap Region