Sheila Camerer
| Sheila Margaret Camerer | |
|---|---|
| South Africa Ambassador to Bulgaria | |
|
In office 2009 - 2013 | |
| Member of Parliament | |
|
In office 2004–2009 | |
| Member of Parliament | |
|
In office 1994–2003 | |
| Member of Parliament | |
|
In office 1987–1994 | |
| Constituency | Rosettenville |
| Personal details | |
| Born |
15 December 1941 Cape Town, South Africa |
| Political party |
2003-present Democratic Alliance 1997-2003 New National Party 1982-1997 National Party |
| Spouse(s) | Alexander Camerer |
| Children | 1 son, 2 daughters |
| Residence | Cape Town, South Africa |
Sheila Margaret Camerer is a retired South African politician and was a Member of Parliament of the main opposition party, the Democratic Alliance(DA).
Like her father, she joined the National Party, 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. In 1989 when Camerer was a National Party member of Parliament, she said:
| “ | People are influenced by manners more than appearances. I like to believe I transfix voters with my big blue eyes.[1] | ” |
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 briefly 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 now rebranded New National Party (NNP) (which was part of the Democratic Alliance (DA)) in the National Assembly, the first-ever woman and English-speaker in the history of the NP or its successor, the NNP, to hold that post.
The New National Party withdrew from the DA in 2001, Camera remained an NNP member until 2003 when newly promulgated legislation allowed her to defect to the DA without losing her parliamentary seat.
After the South African general election, 2009 Camerer was appointed as Ambassador to Bulgaria.[2] In March 2013 Camerer completed her term as ambassador and is currently retired.
References
- ↑ Waal, Shaun de (26 April 2014). "[From our archives] 20 bizarre apartheid moments". The M&G Online. Retrieved 2016-04-27.
- ↑ "PRESENTATION OF CREDENTIALS" (PDF) (Press release). Retrieved 2015-12-30.
- Dube, Pamela (22 May 1999). "Camerer's dilemma over validity of death penalty". Independent Online. Archived from the original on 2008-09-29.