{"id":66616,"date":"2024-05-21T16:44:33","date_gmt":"2024-05-21T16:44:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/das-opposition-politics-pioneer-james-selfe-dies"},"modified":"2024-05-21T17:14:44","modified_gmt":"2024-05-21T17:14:44","slug":"das-opposition-politics-pioneer-james-selfe-dies","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/das-opposition-politics-pioneer-james-selfe-dies","title":{"rendered":"DA&#8217;s opposition politics \u2018pioneer\u2019 James Selfe dies"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span style=\"color: #ff6600\"><strong>Africa-Press &#8211; South-Africa. <\/strong><\/span>DA stalwart and former MP James Selfe has died. He was 68.Party leader John Steenhuisen announced that Selfe passed away on Tuesday afternoon.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cJames departed us peacefully, surrounded by family and loved ones, following a lengthy battle with illness,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>Steenhuisen described Selfe as one of the unsung heroes of South Africa\u2019s democracy, who dedicated his life to the liberation of the South African people, and the betterment of the country as a newlyrealised democracy.Selfe worked for the DA\u2019s forerunner, the Progressive Federal Party, in the 1970s and 1980s as a researcher to combat divisive and regressive apartheid laws by the National Party in parliament. He later served as the party\u2019s communications director, then became an executive director. He was elected to the National Council of Provinces in 1994 in South Africa\u2019s first democratic parliament and served in the Constitutional Assembly, participating in the drawing up of South Africa\u2019s democratic constitution.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cOver his nearly 30-year parliamentary career, James served on various portfolio committees, most notably the committee on justice and correctional services where his oversight of the judicial system was crucial to ensuring that fairness and accountability were always upheld in South African society,\u201d said Steenhuisen.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHowever, it is James\u2019 work for his political home, the Democratic Party (DP) and later the Democratic Alliance, which solidified his legacy as a true democratic stalwart. Through his service to three federal leaders as the party\u2019s first chairperson of the federal council, James operationalised the establishment and fortification of the DA as South Africa\u2019s formidable official opposition.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Selfe helped fine-tune the party\u2019s systems and processes, tightening its federal constitution and turning the fast-growing DA into a modern, internationally-renowned African liberal party of rules and fairness.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMore crucially, James pioneered the DA\u2019s lawfare programme responsible for some of the most ground-breaking legal judgments in post-democratic history, setting a variety of legal precedents which strengthened public accountability in our young democracy.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cFrom the Zuma spy tapes to Nkandla, to blowing the whistle on state contracts awarded to Bosasa, James led the charge against corruption and maladministration levelled against the South African people by some of the governing party\u2019s most unethical figures. James was always committed to building and sustaining a democracy in which transparency and accountability would ensure that our government served its people, and not the politicians holding the reins.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Steenhuisen described Selfe as a pioneer in South African opposition politics, because he was one of the first politicians in post-democratic history to begin the work of opposing the unfettered power of the ANC\u2019s majority, and turn South Africa into a living, breathing democracy where the opposition took up its role as society\u2019s ultimate watchdog.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThis vital development cannot be understated in a country where democratic accountability is still so worryingly evaded. James set the example for many of us in the DA, and we will continue this work for our country in his memory.\u201dHe said the DA was a vast, diverse, and expansive political home for millions of South Africans today because of Selfe\u2019s decades of work and sacrifice.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cEven the party\u2019s youngest and newest members today admire James for his immense contribution not only to the DA, but to South African democracy as a whole. It is this profound impact that will be James\u2019 proud democratic legacy.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe will miss James for his wry, sharp wit, his deep love for his family and his miniature schnauzers, and his proud annual proclamation of \u2018Dezemba\u2019 at the end of every parliamentary year.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cFor as serious as a politician he could be, James was also a dear and cherished friend who savoured the sweetness of life in a career that can often be exhaustively personally taxing. The DA is indebted to James not only for his contribution to our party, but the many wonderful connections he made with the people who belong to it.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Steenhuisen said Selfe\u2019s legacy will live on in the corridors of parliament and in the memories made with family, friends, and colleagues alike.<\/p>\n<p>He extended his condolences to Selfe\u2019s wife, Sheila, and three daughters, Chloe, Stephanie, and Emma, and those close to Selfe.<\/p>\n<p><strong>For More News And Analysis About <a href=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\">South-Africa<\/a> Follow <a href=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/\">Africa-Press<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Africa-Press &#8211; South-Africa. DA stalwart and former MP James Selfe has died. He was 68.Party leader John Steenhuisen announced that Selfe passed away on Tuesday afternoon. \u201cJames departed us peacefully, surrounded by family and loved ones, following a lengthy battle with illness,\u201d he said. Steenhuisen described Selfe as one of the unsung heroes of South [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":66615,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,7,12],"tags":[274,315,275],"class_list":["post-66616","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all-news","category-head-lines","category-policy","tag-africa-press","tag-africa-press-south-africa","tag-south-africa-2"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v26.1 (Yoast SEO v27.0) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>DA&#039;s opposition politics \u2018pioneer\u2019 James Selfe dies - South Africa<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"DA stalwart and former MP James Selfe has died. 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