Stuart Farrow is a South African politician, the former Shadow Minister of Transport, and a Member of Parliament for the opposition Democratic Alliance (DA). He is also one of the party's parliamentary

whips A whip is a blunt weapon or implement used in a striking motion to create sound or pain. Whips can be used for flagellation against humans or animals to exert control through pain compliance or fear of pain, or be used as an audible cue thro ...

Background

Farrow was born in

Umtata Mthatha ( , ), alternatively rendered Umtata, is the main city of the King Sabata Dalindyebo Local Municipality in Eastern Cape province of South Africa and the capital of OR Tambo District Municipality. The city has an airport, previously known ...

, and currently lives in

Plettenberg Bay Plettenberg Bay, nicknamed Plett, is the primary town of the Bitou Local Municipality in the Western Cape Province of South Africa. According to the census of 2001, the town had a population of 29,149. It was originally named Bahia Formosa ("Be ...

. He is married with three daughters and three grandchildren. His son died in a rugby accident in February 2006. Farrow went to school in the Cape but joined his family in

Rhodesia Rhodesia ( , ; ), officially the Republic of Rhodesia from 1970, was an unrecognised state, unrecognised state in Southern Africa that existed from 1965 to 1979. Rhodesia served as the ''de facto'' Succession of states, successor state to the ...

(now Zimbabwe) during the 1960s and 1970s. He attained qualifications in

civil engineering Civil engineering is a regulation and licensure in engineering, professional engineering discipline that deals with the design, construction, and maintenance of the physical and naturally built environment, including public works such as roads ...

agricultural science Agricultural science (or agriscience for short) is a broad multidisciplinary field of biology that encompasses the parts of exact, natural, economic and social sciences that are used in the practice and understanding of agriculture. Professio ...

, leadership management and planning fields. As a student he joined the

Progressive Federal Party The Progressive Federal Party (PFP) () was a South African political party formed in 1977 through merger of the Progressive and Reform parties, eventually changing its name to the Progressive Federal Party. For its duration, it was the main parl ...

, the anti-apartheid minority party which was the forerunner to today's Democratic Alliance. He served in various positions, including branch chairperson and provincial chairperson in the Eastern Cape. He is currently chairperson of the Eastern Cape joint caucus. In addition, he serves on the federal and provincial councils of the party. Farrow's career has focused on the field of agricultural development, where he worked in top management positions at agencies in Zimbabwe and the Eastern Cape. He subsequently ran his own business and consultancy, helping to link markets to disadvantaged areas in the Eastern Cape.

Parliament

Farrow was elected to Parliament in 1999. He retained his seat in 2004, and has served on numerous portfolio committees, including Agriculture and Land Affairs, Health, Public Enterprises and Public Works. He is the DA Shadow Minister of Transport. He was appointed as a whip on his re-election to Parliament in 2009.

Issues

Bus Rapid Transit

Farrow is a proponent of the new bus rapid transit (BRT) system, and was critical of

Jacob Zuma Jacob Gedleyihlekisa Zuma (; born 12 April 1942) is a South African politician who served as the fourth president of South Africa from 2009 to 2018. He is also referred to by his initials JZ and clan names Nxamalala and Msholozi. Zuma was a for ...

's decision to halt the BRT's implementation after pressure from taxi owners - arguing that this could compromise transport readiness ahead of the

2010 World Cup The 2010 FIFA World Cup was the 19th FIFA World Cup, the world championship for List of men's national association football teams, men's national Association football, football teams. It took place in South Africa from 11 June to 11 July 2010. ...

eNatis

Farrow called for former Transport Minister

Jeff Radebe Jeffrey Thamsanqa Radebe (born 18 February 1953) is a South African politician who was last appointed as Minister of Energy by Cyril Ramaphosa on 26 February 2018. He served in the government of South Africa as Minister in the Presidency from 20 ...

to appear before parliament's portfolio committee on transport after months of problems with testing stations and huge backlogs. He has suggested that the failures are due to the contracting and tendering process.

Ndebele's gift

Farrow was a vocal critic of KwaZulu-Natal Transport Minister

S'bu Ndebele Sibusiso Joel "S'bu" Ndebele (born 17 October 1948) is the former Minister of Correctional Services serving from 2012 to 2014. He has been on the National Executive Committee (NEC) of the African National Congress (ANC) since 1997, and was the ...

after Ndebele received a R1-million

Mercedes-Benz Mercedes-Benz (), commonly referred to simply as Mercedes and occasionally as Benz, is a German automotive brand that was founded in 1926. Mercedes-Benz AG (a subsidiary of the Mercedes-Benz Group, established in 2019) is based in Stuttgart, ...

from a company with R400-million in contracts with his own provincial department, and called on Ndebele to return the vehicle. Though President

informed Ndebele he was not obliged to return the car, Ndebele felt that it was ANC principle as he handed back the vehicle.

Constituency

Farrow's constituency stretches across large parts of the rural Eastern Cape. His constituency office is in Queenstown. Other towns in his constituency include Maclear, Ugie, Elliot,

Indwe Indwe is a small town in Chris Hani District Municipality near Dordrecht in the Eastern Cape province of South Africa. The town is situated between Dordrecht and Elliot on the R56 road. It was founded in 1896 as a centre for coal-mining activit ...

, Calla, Encoba,

Lady Frere Lady Frere (officially Cacadu) is a small town in Chris Hani District Municipality in the Eastern Cape province of South Africa. The town was renamed to Cacadu in 2017 after changes to the country's colonial names. Cacadu, meaning "bulrush water ...

Dordrecht Dordrecht (), historically known in English as Dordt (still colloquially used in Dutch, ) or Dort, is a List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city and List of municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality in the Western Netherlands, lo ...

, and

Tarkastad Tarkastad is a Karoo semi-urban settlement situated on the banks of Tarka River in the Eastern Cape province of South Africa. Tarkastad is on a plain to the north of the Winterberg mountain range on the R61 between Cradock and Komani and only thr ...

References

Offices held

{{DEFAULTSORT:Farrow, Stuart Living people Democratic Alliance (South Africa) politicians Members of the National Assembly of South Africa 1999–2004 Members of the National Assembly of South Africa 2004–2009 Members of the National Assembly of South Africa 2009–2014 People from Qonce Year of birth missing (living people)