Jonathan Moakes is a South African political administrator and strategist, currently working as the Chief Executive Officer

Chief executive officer

A chief executive officer , managing director , Executive Director for non-profit organizations, or chief executive is the highest-ranking corporate officer or administrator in charge of total management of an organization...

 of South Africa

South Africa

The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...

's opposition Democratic Alliance.

Background

Moakes was born in Northampton

Northampton

Northampton is a large market town and local government district in the East Midlands region of England. Situated about north-west of London and around south-east of Birmingham, Northampton lies on the River Nene and is the county town of Northamptonshire. The demonym of Northampton is...

, England

England

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

 and moved to South Africa aged three months. He was schooled in Cape Town

Cape Town

Cape Town is the second-most populous city in South Africa, and the provincial capital and primate city of the Western Cape. As the seat of the National Parliament, it is also the legislative capital of the country. It forms part of the City of Cape Town metropolitan municipality...

, and obtained a B.Com in Economics

Economics

Economics is the social science that analyzes the production, distribution, and consumption of goods and services. The term economics comes from the Ancient Greek from + , hence "rules of the house"...

 and an LLB from the University of Cape Town

University of Cape Town

The University of Cape Town is a public research university located in Cape Town in the Western Cape province of South Africa. UCT was founded in 1829 as the South African College, and is the oldest university in South Africa and the second oldest extant university in Africa.-History:The roots of...

, winning the UCT Law Faculty's Human Rights Moot Court competition in 2003.

Professional political career

He worked in the DA's fundraising department, succeeding David Maynier

David Maynier

David Maynier is a South African politician, currently the Shadow Minister of Defence, and a Member of Parliament for the opposition Democratic Alliance.- Background :...

 as the party's Director of Fundraising in July 2007. In February 2008 he was appointed to head up the DA's Western Cape

Western Cape

The Western Cape is a province in the south west of South Africa. The capital is Cape Town. Prior to 1994, the region that now forms the Western Cape was part of the much larger Cape Province...

 registration campaign, and also to oversee the party's support service operations. He was appointed Executive Director of Political Activity and Campaigns in July 2008, and worked alongside party CEO Ryan Coetzee

Ryan Coetzee

Ryan Coetzee is a prominent South African politician and political strategist, and past CEO of the country's official opposition, the Democratic Alliance. He was a Member of Parliament between 2004 and 2009, and headed up his party's general election campaigns in 2004 and 2009...

 in running the party's ground operations during the 2009 general elections

South African general election, 2009

South Africa held national and provincial elections to elect a new National Assembly as well as the provincial legislature in each province on 22 April 2009....

.

He subsequently succeeded Coetzee as the party's CEO in July 2009.]