Cilliers Brink

Cilliers Brink (born 12 June 1987) is a South African politician who is the Mayor of Tshwane, in office since 28 March 2023. A member of the Democratic Alliance, he was the party's Shadow Minister of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs from 2020 until 2023 and a Member of Parliament (MP) from 2019 to 2023. He was the party's Shadow Deputy Minister of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs between 2019 and 2020.

Councillor
Cilliers Brink
Brink in May 2019
Mayor of Tshwane
Assumed office
28 March 2023
Preceded byMurunwa Makwarela
Member of the Tshwane City Council
Assumed office
24 February 2023
In office
May 2011 – May 2019
National Spokesperson of the Democratic Alliance
In office
September 2022 – February 2023
Serving with Solly Malatsi
(18 August 2022 – 2 April 2023)
LeaderJohn Steenhuisen
Preceded bySiviwe Gwarube
Succeeded bySolly Malatsi (solely)
Shadow Minister of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs
In office
5 December 2020 – 23 February 2023
DeputyEleanore Bouw-Spies
LeaderJohn Steenhuisen
Preceded byHaniff Hoosen
Shadow Deputy Minister of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs
In office
5 June 2019 – 5 December 2020
LeaderJohn Steenhuisen
Mmusi Maimane
Shadow MinisterHaniff Hoosen
Preceded byCholoane Matsepe[1]
Succeeded byEleanore Bouw-Spies
Member of the National Assembly of South Africa
In office
22 May 2019 – 23 February 2023
Member of the Mayoral Committee of Tshwane for Corporate and Shared Services
In office
August 2016 – May 2019
MayorSolly Msimanga
Personal details
Born (1987-06-12) 12 June 1987
NationalitySouth African
Political partyDemocratic Alliance
Residence(s)Pretoria, Gauteng, South Africa
Alma materUniversity of Pretoria (LLB)
Occupation
  • Politician
  • legislator
ProfessionLawyer

Brink was elected a DA councillor in Tshwane in 2011 and served as a member of the mayoral committee (MMC) between 2016 and 2019.

Education

Brink studied law at the University of Pretoria.[2]

Political career

Brink has had an interest in politics since a young age. He joined the Democratic Alliance and was elected to the Tshwane city council in 2011.[2] After the 2016 municipal elections, the DA gained control of Tshwane and Brink was appointed as the member of the mayoral committee for corporate and shared services, becoming the first DA politician to hold the post.[3]

Parliamentary career

Prior to the 2019 South African general election held on 8 May, the DA revealed their candidate lists. Brink was placed tenth on the party's Gauteng list of National Assembly candidates, thirty-third on the party's national candidate list for the National Assembly and sixty-seventh on the party's provincial list for the provincial legislature.[4] He was elected to the National Assembly on the party's national list.[5] Brink was sworn into office on 22 May 2019.[6]

On 5 June 2019, he was appointed Shadow Deputy Minister of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs.[7] Brink became a member of the Portfolio Committee on Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs on 27 June 2019.[8]

In June 2020, Brink criticised the national Minister of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs, Dr. Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma, for saying that municipalities should appoint "the right cadres for the job". He went on to claim that cadre deployment is responsible for the decline of municipalities and that cadre deployment should be abolished.[9]

On 5 December 2020, he was appointed as Shadow Minister for the portfolio, succeeding Haniff Hoosen, in the Shadow Cabinet of John Steenhuisen.[10]

Mayor of Tshwane

Tshwane mayor and DA member Randall Williams announced his resignation as mayor on 13 February 2023. Brink and seven other DA members were interviewed for the position; he was announced as the DA's candidate on 21 February 2023 and his candidacy was endorsed by the members of the multi-party coalition which holds a majority of seats on the Tshwane city council.[11][12] He became a councillor on 23 February 2023 after councillor Sean Cox resigned to make way for him to be sworn in.[13] During the council meeting on 28 February 2023, Brink lost to council speaker and COPE's lone councillor, Dr Murunwa Makwarela in the election for mayor. Brink received only 101 votes compared to Makwarela's 112.[14] Makwarela was soon removed from office for being an unrehabilitated insolvent on 7 March 2023, but was reinstated on 9 March after he produced a certificate of solvency rehabilitation, which was found to have been forged. He then resigned from office and council the following day.[15] Rogue councillors in the multi-party coalition who voted for Makwarela over Brink also faced repercussions and were expelled.[16][17]

Brink was elected as mayor during a council meeting on 28 March 2023 with the help of the multi-party coalition. He defeated COPE's new councillor Ofentse Moalusi, winning with 109 votes to Moalusi's 102 votes.[18]

References
  1. "Changes to DA Shadow Cabinet".
  2. "Blog: Mr Cillier Brink". People's Assembly. 25 May 2020. Retrieved 3 October 2020.
  3. Keppler, Virginia (26 August 2016). "These are Tshwane's new MMCs". The Citizen. Retrieved 3 October 2020.
  4. "Cilliers Brink". People's Assembly. Retrieved 3 October 2020.
  5. Moatshe, Rapula (14 May 2019). "City of Tshwane executive reshuffle ruled out". IOL. Retrieved 24 October 2020.
  6. "SEE: These are the people who will represent you in Parliament, provincial legislatures". News24. 15 May 2019. Retrieved 3 October 2020.
  7. Gerber, Jan (5 June 2019). "Here's the DA's 'shadow cabinet'". News24. Retrieved 3 October 2020.
  8. "announcements, tablings and committee reports - APRAV" (PDF). APRAV. Retrieved 24 October 2020.
  9. "DA slams NDZ's 'toxic' cadre deployment views". The Citizen. 22 June 2020. Retrieved 7 February 2021.
  10. "DA announces new Shadow Cabinet that will bring Real Hope and Real Change". Democratic Alliance. Retrieved 5 December 2020.
  11. Mahlati, Zintle. "DA, coalition partners choose MP Cilliers Brink as Tshwane mayoral candidate". News24. Retrieved 21 February 2023.
  12. Mbolekwa, Sisanda. "DA spokesperson Cilliers Brink tipped to be next Tshwane mayor". TimesLIVE. Retrieved 21 February 2023.
  13. Mahlati, Zintle. "ANC, EFF, DA ready to elect new Tshwane mayor via secret ballot". News24. Retrieved 28 February 2023.
  14. Seeletsa, Molefe (28 February 2023). "Cope's Dr Murunwa Makwarela elected City of Tshwane mayor". The Citizen. Retrieved 28 February 2023.
  15. Baloyi, Thabo (10 March 2023). "BREAKING: Tshwane Mayor Murunwa Makwarela RESIGNS". The South African. Retrieved 28 March 2023.
  16. Madia, Tshidi. "DA-led coalition finds 'culprits' who voted with ANC, EFF to elect Tshwane mayor". ewn.co.za. Retrieved 28 March 2023.
  17. Goba, Thabiso. "ActionSA fires 2 councillors allegedly for voting with the ANC in Tshwane". ewn.co.za. Retrieved 28 March 2023.
  18. "Cilliers Brink is the newly elected mayor of Tshwane". TimesLIVE. Retrieved 28 March 2023.
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