Accidental MP

At 28, Gwen Ngwenya hadn’t intended entering politics – just yet. She’d imagined herself following some other career path first. But this year the Master’s graduate and former COO of the SA Institute of Race Relations was appointed the DA’s Head of Policy and took up a seat in Parliament. Sue Segar talks to the woman some see as a future leader of the party.​​

ON 27 FEBRUARY, THE DAY GWEN NGWENYA WAS sworn in as a DA MP – simultaneously taking up the post of Head of Policy for the official opposition – the 28-year-old wrote on Facebook: “Going back to the DA was not even on my radar when the year began. Just goes to show how unpredictable life is.”

Having pinned her colours to the DA mast, Ngwenya is seen by some as a future leader of the party – and an astute one at that; it is rumoured she only accepted the Policy position on condition she was made a Member of Parliament.

Interviewed by Noseweek, she explains: “I knew at some point I wanted to be involved in politics but I had wanted to be successful in another area first. I have a Master’s in Economics and I’m now registered for an MSc in Finance (Banking). I thought I would work in the private sector first – being an MP was decades away!”

Ngwenya was formerly Chief Operating Officer at the South African Institute of Race Relations (IRR). The institute’s CEO Frans Cronje said on her departure: “Gwen is a formidable individual with a deep commitment to the success of our country. She will play a very important role in restoring public confidence in Parliament”.

If the DA under Mmusi Maimane were to lose support in the next election as a consequence of the ongoing ructions and challenges in the DA-led municipal coalitions, then the party could lose in Gauteng, see a retreat in the Western Cape and may well be looking for a new leader after 2019. Could she be a likely candidate?

“Those rumours do exist,” says Ngwenya, “and I certainly receive that kind of pressure, but right now I am focused on policy. I’d like to leave my mark there and do really great work.