Janet Audrey Semple (born 29 March 1955) is a retired South African politician who served as a Member of the

Gauteng Provincial Legislature The Gauteng Provincial Legislature is the legislature of the South African province of Gauteng. It is a unicameral body of 80 members elected every five years. The current legislature, the seventh, was 2019 Gauteng provincial election, elected on ...

for the Democratic Alliance (DA) from 2010 to 2019. She was the Provincial Leader of the DA in

Gauteng Gauteng ( , ; Sotho-Tswana languages, Sotho-Tswana for 'place of gold'; or ) is one of the nine provinces of South Africa. Situated on the Highveld, Gauteng is the smallest province by land area in South Africa. Although Gauteng accounts f ...

from 2010 to 2012. She previously represented the DA and Democratic Party (DP) in the

National Assembly In politics, a national assembly is either a unicameral legislature, the lower house of a bicameral legislature, or both houses of a bicameral legislature together. In the English language it generally means "an assembly composed of the repr ...

from 1999 to 2009.

Early life and career

Semple was born on 29 March 1955. She started her political career by serving as both the mayor and deputy mayor of

Bedfordview Bedfordview is an affluent suburb in western Ekurhuleni, sharing an administrative boundary with the City of Johannesburg Metropolitan Municipality, Gauteng, South Africa. Bedfordview has been part of the City of Ekurhuleni Metropolitan Municipalit ...

. She was a member of the

Women's National Coalition The Women's National Coalition was established in South Africa in April 1992 as a national alliance of women's groups across the country. Women were represented from across the political, economic, racial, cultural and religious spectrum. The coali ...

Parliament

Semple joined the National Assembly in the 1999 general election, representing the DP, and stood successfully for re-election in

2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and Its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 60 ...

, ranked fourth on the Gauteng party list of the DA, the DP's successor party. She was also Chairperson of the Democratic Alliance's Women Network from 2005 to 2009 and the DA's political head in

Benoni Benoni may refer to: Places * Benoni, Gauteng, a town in the Ekurhuleni Metropolitan Municipality, in the East Rand region of Gauteng province in South Africa * Benoni, a barangay in Mahinog, Camiguin, Philippines People * Benoni (given name), a ...

. She left Parliament after the 2009 general election.

Provincial legislature

Helen Zille and Gauteng DA leader Janet Semple

Semple was elected the Provincial Leader of the Democratic Alliance in April 2010. She defeated incumbent

John Moodey John Clifford Moodey (born 22 November 1958) is a South African politician who is currently serving a Member of the Gauteng Provincial Legislature on behalf of ActionSA. He previously served as the Provincial Leader of the Democratic Alliance ( ...

by just 8 votes. She was soon appointed to the

in October 2010. She became the party's provincial spokesperson on Housing and the party's head in

Boksburg Boksburg is a city on the East Rand of Gauteng province of South Africa. Gold was discovered in Boksburg in 1887. Boksburg was named after the State Secretary of the South African Republic, Willem Eduard Bok, W. Eduard Bok. The R29 (South A ...

. Semple announced her retirement as the provincial leader in January 2012. Her predecessor, John Moodey, was elected as her successor at the party's March 2012 conference. She left the Gauteng Provincial Legislature at the May 2019 general election.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Semple, Janet Living people People from Germiston Members of the Gauteng Provincial Legislature Democratic Alliance (South Africa) politicians Women members of the National Assembly of South Africa Members of the National Assembly of South Africa 2004–2009 20th-century South African politicians White South African people 21st-century South African women politicians 1955 births