Anchen Margaretha Dreyer (born 27 March 1952) is a South African politician, a

Member of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members of ...

for the opposition Democratic Alliance, and former Chairperson of the Democratic Alliance Caucus in the

National Assembly In politics, a national assembly is either a unicameral legislature, the lower house of a bicameral legislature, or both houses of a bicameral legislature together. In the English language it generally means "an assembly composed of the repre ...

. Before being elected unopposed to this position on 26 May 2014, she was first the Shadow Minister of Public Enterprises and thereafter the Shadow Minister of Public Works.

Early life

Anchen Dreyer grew up in the then

Transvaal Transvaal is a historical geographic term associated with land north of (''i.e.'', beyond) the Vaal River in South Africa. A number of states and administrative divisions have carried the name Transvaal. * South African Republic (1856–1902; af, ...

province, attended primary school in the small town of Brits, and matriculated at Voortrekkerhoogte Hoёrskool in 1969. She obtained her tertiary education at the

Rand Afrikaans University The Rand Afrikaans University (RAU) was a prominent South African institution of higher education and research that served the greater Johannesburg area and surroundings from 1967 to 2004. It has since merged with the Technikon Witwatersrand ...

(RAU) obtaining the following degrees: BA, 1973; BA Honors in Sociology, 1977; BA Honors in Psychology, 1981; and MA in Clinical Psychology, 1983. She registered as a clinical psychologist with the South African Medical and Dental Council in 1983 and thereafter worked as a clinical psychologist in both Auckland Park and Sandton, Johannesburg, from 1983 to 1988. She established and managed a successful private practice as a clinical psychologist in Meliville, Johannesburg, from 1988 to 1994. She now considers herself a retired clinical psychologist and a full-time politician.

Political career

She started her political life as a volunteer for the

Progressive Federal Party The Progressive Federal Party (PFP) ( af, Progressiewe Federale Party) was a South African political party formed in 1977 through merger of the Progressive and Reform parties, eventually changing its name to the Progressive Federal Party. For it ...

in 1978. She served as

Democratic Party (South Africa) The Democratic Party (DP) was the name of the South African political party now called the Democratic Alliance. Although the Democratic Party name dates from 1989, the party existed under other labels throughout the apartheid years, when it wa ...

councillor in Johannesburg City Council from 1991 to 1994, and as caucus leader in the Johannesburg Metropolitan Council from 1995 to 1997. She completed a five-year term as a Democratic Alliance member of the

Gauteng Provincial Legislature The Gauteng Provincial Legislature is the legislature of the South African province of Gauteng. It is a unicameral body of 73 members elected every five years. The current legislature, the sixth, was elected on 8 May 2019 and has an African Natio ...

in Johannesburg, serving initially as the spokesperson for agriculture, conservation, environment and land affairs, and was later elected as caucus whip from 1999 to 2002. She assumed office as the Democratic Alliance Gauteng provincial deputy chairperson from 2003 to 2004, and thereafter acted as DA media spokesperson at the election head office in Johannesburg, February to April 2004. In 2005, she became a Democratic Alliance Member of Parliament, where she served the party as a whip and the spokesperson on Labour. Her constituency is the Mogale City municipal area. She was re-elected to Parliament in 2009 and was appointed as the Shadow Minister of Public Service and Administration and has been Shadow Minister for Public Works since 2012. She has also served the party as a whip since 2005. In May 2019,

Annelie Lotriet Annelie Lotriet (born 8 June 1960) is a South African politician, a Member of Parliament with the Democratic Alliance (DA) who is the Shadow Minister of Science and Technology and served as Acting Leader of the Opposition. She is also the prov ...

was elected the new Democratic Alliance Caucus Chairperson, succeeding Dreyer.

Personal life

Her 50-year-old brother Frans owner of VAStech died on the

Afriqiyah Airways Flight 771 Afriqiyah Airways Flight 771 was a scheduled international Afriqiyah Airways passenger flight that crashed on 12 May 2010 at about 06:01 local time (04:01 UTC) on approach to Tripoli International Airport, about short of the runway. Of the 10 ...

crash on 12 May 2010.SA families mourn those lost in Tripoli crash
/ref> Her great grandfather, Louw Geldenhuys, was a city councilor and an MP. She volunteered as a counselor to ex-detainees held without trial during State of Emergency, from 1989 to 1990. She served on WARM (Westene, Auckland Park, Richmond, Melville) Residents' Association Management Committee, from 1989 to 1991.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dreyer, Anchen 1952 births Living people Democratic Alliance (South Africa) politicians Members of the National Assembly of South Africa Women members of the National Assembly of South Africa