David Maynier

David Maynier MP
Shadow Minister of Defence and Military Veterans
Incumbent
Assumed office 2009
Leader	Helen Zille
Preceded by	Rafeek Shah
Member of Parliament for Western Cape
Incumbent
Assumed office 6 May 2009
Personal details
Born	22 October 1968 Cape Town, Cape Province, South Africa
Nationality	South African
Political party	Democratic Alliance
Alma mater	Kennedy School of Government, Harvard and University of Cape Town

David Maynier (born 22 October 1968) is a South African politician, currently the Shadow Minister of Defence and Military Veterans,^[1] and a Member of Parliament for the opposition Democratic Alliance.^[2]

Background

Maynier matriculated from Grey High School in Port Elizabeth, and holds a Bachelor of Arts (Honours) degree from the University of Cape Town and a Master's Degree in Public Administration and Management from Harvard's Kennedy School of Government.^[3] He is a former submarine officer and navy diver in the South African Navy.^[4]

Maynier joined the Democratic Alliance as a researcher in 1999, and quickly rose to the position of Director of Research. In August 2000 he became Chief of Staff to party leader Tony Leon - a position he served until June 2004, when he became Assistant to the Chairperson of the Federal Executive. In February 2005 he was again promoted to Director of Fundraising, and he was awarded the party's 'Top Fundraiser of the Year' award at the 2007 Federal Congress, after modernising and professionalising the party's fundraising system.^[4][5] In 2008, he was appointed the DA's Deputy CEO with special responsibility for the Western Cape, the province where the DA has its strongest support base in South Africa. In 2009 he was the party's Campaign Manager in the Western Cape for the 2009 general election. The party won 51.3% of the vote in the province—up significantly from 27% in 2004. The result allowed Helen Zille to become Premier of the Western Cape, and saw the DA take control of the provincial legislature in an alliance with the Independent Democrats.

Member of Parliament

After managing the DA's successful Western Cape electoral campaign, Maynier became a Member of Parliament, after appearing eleventh on the party's Western Cape national list.^[6] Following the election he was appointed Shadow Minister of Defence. In his maiden speech to Parliament, Maynier issued a damning critique of the National Defence Force's state of combat readiness^[7][8][9]—telling Defence Minister Lindiwe Sisulu:

“

We have soldiers in barracks, not in the field; we have ships alongside, not at sea; and we have aircraft in hangars, not in the air. We have an army that is overstretched; a navy which is understretched; and an airforce with nothing to stretch.[10][11]

”

On 2 August 2009, Maynier announced that a crisis in South Africa's National Conventional Arms Control Committee had resulted in weapons deals being conducted between South African firms and rogue states like North Korea, Iran and Libya. This included the committee authorising the sale of radar detectors for use on North Korean submarines, and aviator G-suits to Iran.^[12]

On 27 March 2013 Maynier led the thrust for a parliamentary inquiry into the SANDF's intervention in the Central African Republic coup.^[13]

References

1. "DA shadow cabinet - full list of names".
2. "National List MPs" (PDF).
3. "Mason Fellows in Public Policy and Management".
4. "David Maynier".
5. "Is this South Africa's Most Poorly Researched Book ever?".
6. "The DA's candidates for the 2009 elections".
7. "The SANDF is in deep trouble – David Maynier".
8. Jan Jan Joubert. "South Africa must not know how able its own Defence Force is".
9. "SANDF in deep trouble say DA".
10. "SANDF readiness: Sisulu satisfied, DA alarmed".
11. "The Week in Quotes".
12. "S.Africa opposition accuses govt of arming dictators".
13. DefenseWeb (2013-03-27). "SA soldier missing in CAR found alive and well". DefenseWeb. Retrieved 2013-03-28.

Offices held