Michael John Cardo (born 28 June 1977) is a South African author and politician who served as the Shadow Minister of Employment and Labour from June 2019 until February 2024. He was elected to the

National Assembly of South Africa The National Assembly is the directly elected house of the Parliament of South Africa, located in Cape Town, Western Cape. It consists of four hundred members who are elected every five years using a party-list proportional representation sy ...

in May 2014. Between June 2015 and June 2019, he was the Shadow Minister of Economic Development. He resigned from Parliament effective on 31 January 2024. Cardo is a member of the Democratic Alliance.

Early life and education

Cardo was born in 1977 in

Durban Durban ( ; , from meaning "bay, lagoon") is the third-most populous city in South Africa, after Johannesburg and Cape Town, and the largest city in the Provinces of South Africa, province of KwaZulu-Natal. Situated on the east coast of South ...

. He holds a BA Honours in history from the

University of Natal The University of Natal was a university in the former South African province Natal which later became KwaZulu-Natal. The University of Natal no longer exists as a distinct legal entity, as it was incorporated into the University of KwaZulu- ...

. He has an MPhil and a PhD in history from the

University of Cambridge The University of Cambridge is a Public university, public collegiate university, collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209, the University of Cambridge is the List of oldest universities in continuous operation, wo ...

. While studying at Cambridge, he attended Trinity College.

Political career

In 2003, Cardo joined the political staff of the Democratic Alliance and worked as a chief of staff in the office of the DA leader

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

. Between 2004 and 2006, he served as the national director of research for the party. During the 2009 general election campaign, Cardo worked as

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 ...

's speechwriter. He was then employed in the policy and strategy unit of the department of the premier in the Western Cape government between 2011 and 2014.

Parliamentary career

Prior to the 7 May 2014 general election, Cardo was selected as a DA parliamentary candidate. At the election, he won a seat 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 ...

. He was sworn in as a Member of Parliament on 21 May 2014. Having entered parliament, he was assigned to the Portfolio Committee on Public Service and Administration, Performance Monitoring & Evaluation and the Standing Committee on the Auditor-General in June 2014. The DA parliamentary leader,

Mmusi Maimane Mmusi Aloysias Maimane (born 6 June 1980) is a South African politician, businessman, and leader of Build One South Africa, a political party. Maimane is also the former Leader of South Africa, South Africa's opposition Democratic Alliance (So ...

, appointed him Shadow Minister of Economic Development on 18 June 2015. He became a member of that specific portfolio's committee on 25 June 2015. On 17 September 2015, he left the public service portfolio committee. He relinquished his membership on the Standing Committee on the Auditor-General on 23 November 2015, meaning that his only committee assignment for the remainder of the term was the Portfolio Committee on Economic Development. Cardo was re-elected for a second term in May 2019. In June 2019, he became the Shadow Minister of Employment and Labour. He became a member of the Portfolio Committee on Employment and Labour later that month. Cardo remained in his post as shadow employment and labour minister in John Steenhuisen's Shadow Cabinet. Cardo resigned from Parliament on 31 January 2024.

Personal life

Cardo is one of a number of openly LGBTQ+ members of parliament. Cardo was awarded a Visiting Research Fellowship at the

Helen Suzman Foundation The Helen Suzman Foundation is an independent, non-partisan think tank in South Africa dedicated to promoting liberal democratic values and human rights in post-apartheid South Africa through its research, publications, litigation and submissions ...

in 2006.

Publications

*Cardo, Michael (2010). ''Opening Men's Eyes: Peter Brown And The Liberal Struggle For South Africa''.

References

External links

Dr Michael John Cardo
at

Parliament of South Africa The Parliament of the Republic of South Africa is South Africa's legislature. It is located in Cape Town; the country's legislative capital city, capital. Under the present Constitution of South Africa, the bicameralism, bicameral Parliamen ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cardo, Michael Living people 1977 births Writers from Durban Politicians from Durban People from KwaZulu-Natal White South African people University of Natal alumni Alumni of the University of Cambridge Democratic Alliance (South Africa) politicians South African writers South African gay politicians Members of the National Assembly of South Africa 2019–2024 Members of the National Assembly of South Africa 2014–2019