Mark Lowe (politician)

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Mark Lowe
Member of the National Assembly
In office
1 October 2001 – May 2009
ConstituencyKwaZulu-Natal
Member of the KwaZulu-Natal Provincial Legislature
In office
June 1999 – 1 October 2001
Personal details
Born
Christopher Mark Lowe

(1962-04-03) 3 April 1962 (age 62)
CitizenshipSouth Africa
Political party

Christopher Mark Lowe (born 3 April 1962)[1] is a South African politician. He represented the Democratic Party (DP) and Democratic Alliance (DA) in the National Assembly from 2001 to 2009, serving the KwaZulu-Natal constituency. Before that, he represented the DP in the KwaZulu-Natal Provincial Legislature from 1999 to 2001 and was a long-serving local councillor in Durban.

Political career

Lowe served as a local councillor in Durban North for about 11 years,[2] and he was Deputy Mayor of Durban in the mid-1990s.[3] During his time in the latter position, he recruited John Steenhuisen, the party's future leader, to the DP.[3] Lowe remained in the local council until the 1999 general election,[3] when he was elected to a DP seat in the KwaZulu-Natal Provincial Legislature.[1] During his term there, in March 2001, he was ordered out of the legislature by the Speaker after he called Lucky Gabela of the African National Congress a "liar".[4]

On 1 October 2001, Lowe was sworn in to a seat in the KwaZulu-Natal caucus of the National Assembly, swopping seats with Omie Singh.[5] In March the following year, he became the DA's spokesman in the Standing Committee on Public Accounts after Raenette Taljaard resigned from the committee.[6][7] In the 2004 general election, the DA nominated Lowe for re-election to a full term in the National Assembly.[8] He was re-elected,[9] and, during the legislative term that followed, he served as the party's spokesman on labour[10] and later on home affairs.[11] He left Parliament after the 2009 general election.

In 2014, Lowe nominated himself to stand as the DA's candidate in a by-election in his former ward in Durban North, where the incumbent councillor, Dean Macpherson, had been promoted to a parliamentary seat. However, the party did not select Lowe, and he complained to the media that he felt "betrayed".[2][12] The DA's provincial chairperson, Haniff Hoosen, said that Lowe had not submitted his application on time and was not, in any case, eligible, since he was not registered to vote in Durban.[12] Lowe said that, though he lived in Cape Town, he owned properties in Durban.[2]

References

  1. ^ a b "General Notice: Notice 1319 of 1999 – Electoral Commission: Representatives Elected to the Various Legislatures" (PDF). Government Gazette of South Africa. Vol. 408, no. 20203. Pretoria, South Africa: Government of South Africa. 11 June 1999. Retrieved 26 March 2021.
  2. ^ a b c "Veteran Lowe sets sights on Durban North return". The Mercury. 3 June 2014. Retrieved 19 May 2023.
  3. ^ a b c "On 'race', the DA is on the wrong side of history". Politicsweb. 8 November 2020. Retrieved 19 May 2023.
  4. ^ "KZN DA MPL ordered out". News24. 20 March 2001. Retrieved 19 May 2023.
  5. ^ "The National Assembly List of Resinations and Nominations". Parliament of South Africa. 2 June 2002. Archived from the original on 2 June 2002. Retrieved 2 April 2023.
  6. ^ "Troubled Scopa loses another". News24. 8 March 2002. Retrieved 19 May 2023.
  7. ^ "New Scopa chair a 'lackey'". News24. 25 April 2002. Retrieved 19 May 2023.
  8. ^ "Few surprises on DA election lists". The Mail & Guardian. 15 February 2004. Retrieved 19 May 2023.
  9. ^ "General Notice: Notice 717 of 2004 - Electoral Commission – List of Names of Representatives in the National Assembly and the Nine Provincial Legislatures in Respect of the Elections Held on 14 April 2004" (PDF). Government Gazette of South Africa. Vol. 466, no. 2677. Pretoria, South Africa: Government of South Africa. 20 April 2004. pp. 4–95. Retrieved 26 March 2021.
  10. ^ "DA: Workers' Day means nothing to unemployed". The Mail & Guardian. 30 April 2007. Retrieved 19 May 2023.
  11. ^ "DA: Zim immigrants streaming into SA". The Mail & Guardian. 23 July 2007. Retrieved 19 May 2023.
  12. ^ a b "Political row erupts in strategic DA ward of Durban North". Northglen News. 13 June 2014. Retrieved 19 May 2023.
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