Sheila Camerer
Encyclopedia
Sheila Margaret Camerer is a South African politician and senior Member of Parliament of the main opposition Democratic Alliance(DA).
Although Camerer's father, Robert Badenhorst-Durandt had been a Member of Parliament for the ruling National Party
(NP), as a young lawyer in the mid-1970s she worked on the legal defence strategies of anti-apartheid activitists, including that of the Soweto Committee of Ten. The latter included Winnie Madikizela-Mandela
, wife of then jailed African National Congress
(ANC) leader and future South African President, Nelson Mandela
.
She joined the NP herself and in 1982 was elected NP member of the Johannesburg City Council. In 1987 she was elected Member of Parliament for the Johannesburg constituency of Rosettenville and two years later appointed deputy justice minister in the government of reformist NP leader and South African president FW de Klerk.
During the constitutional negotiations on a democratic South Africa, Camerer was employed to lead the NP in drafting a Bill of Rights. Later she became a prominent spokesperson for the party in parliament, and served shortly as deputy justice minister after 1994 until De Klerk decided to suspend the party's participation in the Government of National Unity (GNU). In 1997, she became leader of the NP in the National Assembly, the first-ever woman and English-speaker in the party's history to hold the post.
Camerer was seen as opposing the withdrawal of the now remained New National Party (NNP) from the Democratic Alliance (DA) in 2001, but remained an NNP member until 2003 when newly promulgated legislation allowed her to defect to the DA without losing her parliamentary seat.
In November 2006 Camerer voted in favour of legislation permitting homosexual civil unions.
As the South African general election, 2009
has completed, Camerer will soon assume the position of Ambassador to Bulgaria.
Although Camerer's father, Robert Badenhorst-Durandt had been a Member of Parliament for the ruling National Party
National Party (South Africa)
The National Party is a former political party in South Africa. Founded in 1914, it was the governing party of the country from 4 June 1948 until 9 May 1994. Members of the National Party were sometimes known as Nationalists or Nats. Its policies included apartheid, the establishment of a...
(NP), as a young lawyer in the mid-1970s she worked on the legal defence strategies of anti-apartheid activitists, including that of the Soweto Committee of Ten. The latter included Winnie Madikizela-Mandela
Winnie Madikizela-Mandela
Winnie Madikizela-Mandela is a South African politician who has held several government positions and headed the African National Congress Women's League. She is currently a member of the ANC's National Executive Committee...
, wife of then jailed African National Congress
African National Congress
The African National Congress is South Africa's governing Africanist political party, supported by its tripartite alliance with the Congress of South African Trade Unions and the South African Communist Party , since the establishment of non-racial democracy in April 1994. It defines itself as a...
(ANC) leader and future South African President, Nelson Mandela
Nelson Mandela
Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela served as President of South Africa from 1994 to 1999, and was the first South African president to be elected in a fully representative democratic election. Before his presidency, Mandela was an anti-apartheid activist, and the leader of Umkhonto we Sizwe, the armed wing...
.
She joined the NP herself and in 1982 was elected NP member of the Johannesburg City Council. In 1987 she was elected Member of Parliament for the Johannesburg constituency of Rosettenville and two years later appointed deputy justice minister in the government of reformist NP leader and South African president FW de Klerk.
During the constitutional negotiations on a democratic South Africa, Camerer was employed to lead the NP in drafting a Bill of Rights. Later she became a prominent spokesperson for the party in parliament, and served shortly as deputy justice minister after 1994 until De Klerk decided to suspend the party's participation in the Government of National Unity (GNU). In 1997, she became leader of the NP in the National Assembly, the first-ever woman and English-speaker in the party's history to hold the post.
Camerer was seen as opposing the withdrawal of the now remained New National Party (NNP) from the Democratic Alliance (DA) in 2001, but remained an NNP member until 2003 when newly promulgated legislation allowed her to defect to the DA without losing her parliamentary seat.
In November 2006 Camerer voted in favour of legislation permitting homosexual civil unions.
As the South African general election, 2009
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....
has completed, Camerer will soon assume the position of Ambassador to Bulgaria.