Gregory Allen Grootboom (born 8 July 1954)2019 LIST OF REPRESENTATIVES IN THE NATIONAL AND PROVINCIAL LEGISLATURE - GAZETTE
/ref> is a retired

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...

n politician and psychologist.

Biography

Grootboom was born in 1954. He started his student activism at the

University of the Western Cape The University of the Western Cape (UWC) is a public research university in Bellville, near Cape Town, South Africa. The university was established in 1959 by the South African government as a university for Coloured people only. Other un ...

in 1973. He soon became involved with the

Black Consciousness movement The Black Consciousness Movement (BCM) was a grassroots anti-Apartheid activist movement that emerged in South Africa in the mid-1960s out of the political vacuum created by the jailing and banning of the African National Congress and Pan Afri ...

and joined the

South African Students Organisation The South African Students' Organisation (SASO) was a body of black South African university students who resisted apartheid through non-violent political action. The organisation was formed in 1969 under the leadership of Steve Biko and Barney P ...

(SASO). He was also involved with the New Unity Movement and played a leading role in student politics. Grootboom was a member of the

African National Congress The African National Congress (ANC) is a Social democracy, social-democratic political party in Republic of South Africa, South Africa. A liberation movement known for its opposition to apartheid, it has governed the country since 1994, when ...

(ANC) until 1995 when he became a member of the

Democratic Party Democratic Party most often refers to: *Democratic Party (United States) Democratic Party and similar terms may also refer to: Active parties Africa *Botswana Democratic Party *Democratic Party of Equatorial Guinea *Gabonese Democratic Party *Demo ...

(DP). The DP became the Democratic Alliance (DA) in 2000. Grootboom briefly left politics to finish his studies and achieved an MEd in Psychology from the

University of Port Elizabeth The University of Port Elizabeth (UPE) was a public university located in Port Elizabeth in the Eastern Cape province of South Africa. UPE was founded on 31 January 1964, by an act of parliament, and held its first academic year in 1965. It off ...

. He was also a Ford Fellow at the Ford Foundation. He later obtained a PhD in Psychology from the

University of the Free State The University of the Free State is a multi-campus public university in Bloemfontein, the capital of the Free State (province), Free State and the judicial capital of South Africa. It was first established as an institution of higher learning in ...

. Grootboom returned to politics in 2009, as he became the leader and chairperson of the DA in the

Northern Cape The Northern Cape is the largest and most sparsely populated province of South Africa. It was created in 1994 when the Cape Province was split up. Its capital is Kimberley. It includes the Kalahari Gemsbok National Park, part of the Kgalagadi T ...

. He was sworn in as an MP in May 2009. He served as the DA's Shadow Deputy Minister for Arts and Culture. Grootboom was elected to the

Northern Cape Provincial Legislature The Northern Cape Provincial Legislature is the legislature of the Northern Cape province of South Africa. It is a unicameral body of 30 members elected every five years. The current legislature was elected on 8 May 2019 and has an African Natio ...

in May 2019, but announced his withdrawal from politics a few months later in August. He resigned as an MPL in September and the DA appointed Sol Plaatje councillor Ofentse Mokae to succeed him.

References

External links

Mr Gregory Allen Grootboom – People's Assembly
{{DEFAULTSORT:Grootboom, Allen Living people 1954 births Democratic Alliance (South Africa) politicians Members of the Northern Cape Provincial Legislature Members of the National Assembly of South Africa Democratic Party (South Africa) politicians African National Congress politicians 20th-century South African politicians 21st-century South African politicians University of the Western Cape alumni University of the Free State alumni