Darren Bergman is a South African politician who has been a Member of the National Assembly of South Africa for Democratic Alliance since 2014. Within the DA Shadow Cabinet, he was Shadow Deputy Minister of Sport and Recreation between 2014 and 2019, Shadow Minister of International Relations and Cooperation between 2019 and 2023 and Shadow Deputy Minister of Trade, Industry and Competition between 2023 and 2024.

Background

Bergman was educated at King David High School in

Linksfield, Johannesburg Linksfield is a suburb of Johannesburg, South Africa. It is a suburb lying north-east of the Johannesburg CBD and is surrounded southerly by Linksfield Ridge, easterly by Linksfield North and Bedford, St Andrews and Senderwood. Linksfield itself ...

. He was the managing director of Youth Against Crime, a policeman, basic life paramedic and a consultant before he became active in politics. In 1999, he became the regional youth leader 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 ...

in Johannesburg. Bergman was elected to the Johannesburg city council in the 2000 municipal election as a representative of the newly formed Democratic Alliance. He served as a PR and as a ward councillor for the DA until he was elected to parliament in 2014. Bergman also served as the treasurer of the

Africa Liberal Network The Africa Liberal Network (ALN; french: Réseau libéral africain) is an organization composed of 47 political parties from 29 countries in Africa. It is an associated organisation of Liberal International, the political family to which liberal ...

Parliamentary career

Bergman stood as a DA parliamentary candidate in the 2014 national elections and was subsequently elected to the

National Assembly of South Africa The National Assembly is the directly elected house of the Parliament of South Africa, located in Cape Town, Western Cape. It consists of four hundred members who are elected every five years using a party-list proportional representation syste ...

and sworn in on 21 May 2014. On 5 June 2014, he was appointed Shadow Deputy Minister of Sport and Recreation by Mmusi Maimane, deputising for

Solly Malatsi Mmoba Solomon "Solly" Malatsi (born 22 December 1985) is a South African politician from Limpopo. He has been a Member of the National Assembly of South Africa since May 2014 and the national spokesperson of the Democratic Alliance (DA) since A ...

. Bergman became a member of the Portfolio Committee on Sport and Recreation on 20 June 2014. On 17 September 2015, he was appointed an alternate member of the Portfolio Committee on International Relations and Cooperation. Bergman was re-elected to parliament in the national and provincial elections on 8 May 2019. The newly elected DA caucus elected him as a whip. On 5 June 2019, Bergman was promoted to Shadow Minister of International Relations and Cooperation. Bergman attempted to break up a conflict between EFF MP

Marshall Dlamini Marshall Mzingisi Dlamini (born 13 August 1977) is a South African businessman and politician who was elected the Secretary-General of the Economic Freedom Fighters in December 2019. He has been serving as a Member of the National Assembly since ...

and fellow DA MP Denis Joseph in September 2019. In October 2019, Maimane resigned as DA leader and

John Steenhuisen John Henry Steenhuisen (born 25 March 1976) is a South African politician who has served as the leader of the Opposition since October 2019 and has been the federal leader of the Democratic Alliance since November 2020, having served as the in ...

was elected his interim successor. He temporarily retained Maimane's cabinet. In October 2020, Bergman criticised president Cyril Ramaphosa, who also served as chair of the

African Union The African Union (AU) is a continental union consisting of 55 member states located on the continent of Africa. The AU was announced in the Sirte Declaration in Sirte, Libya, on 9 September 1999, calling for the establishment of the Africa ...

, for being silent on many African crises. He said that Ramaphosa's failure for not speaking out against the attacks on the protests against police brutality in Nigeria, could be seen as him "condoning" it. After Steenhuisen was elected DA leader for a full term, he announced his shadow cabinet in December 2020. Bergman remained as Shadow Minister of International Relations and Cooperation. In the 2020 Register of Members’ Interests, Bergman declared that he received R10,000 a month for consultancy work in a company he owns with associates. In January 2021, Bergman demanded that South African diplomats pay almost R10 million in unreturned rental deposits. Bergman was moved to Shadow Deputy Minister of Trade, Industry and Competition on 21 April 2023. Bergman was re-elected to 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 ...

at the 2024 general election.

References

External links

Mr Darren Bergman
at

Parliament of South Africa The Parliament of the Republic of South Africa is South Africa's legislature; under the present Constitution of South Africa, the bicameral Parliament comprises a National Assembly and a National Council of Provinces. The current twenty-seve ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bergman, Darren Living people Year of birth missing (living people) Place of birth missing (living people) Politicians from Johannesburg Democratic Alliance (South Africa) politicians Members of the National Assembly of South Africa 21st-century South African politicians