Dr. Dion George is a South African politician, the Shadow Minister of Finance, and 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 (DA).
He serves as a member–elected Trustee and Chair of the Investment Sub–Committee of the Political Office Bearers Pension Fund and in the DA's national leadership as Federal Finance Chair.
He is a member of the Party’s Federal Council, Federal Executive and National Management Committee.
Elected to the Johannesburg City Council in March 2006, he subsequently took his seat in the National Assembly in January 2008. He was re-elected in 2009 and 2014. He resigned from parliament in May 2015 and returned in November 2018, where he served as a permanent delegate from the Western Cape in the National Council of Provinces. He was re-elected to the National Assembly in May
2019
File:2019 collage v1.png, From top left, clockwise: Hong Kong protests turn to widespread riots and civil disobedience; House of Representatives votes to adopt articles of impeachment against Donald Trump; CRISPR gene editing first used to experim ...
.
Early life
Dion was born in
Durban
Durban ( ) ( zu, eThekwini, from meaning 'the port' also called zu, eZibubulungwini for the mountain range that terminates in the area), nicknamed ''Durbs'',Ishani ChettyCity nicknames in SA and across the worldArticle on ''news24.com'' from ...
and moved to
Vanderbijlpark
Vanderbijlpark is an industrial town with approximately 95 000 inhabitants, situated on the Vaal River in the south of Gauteng province, South Africa. The city is named after Hendrik van der Bijl, an electrical engineer and industrialist.
Vand ...
at a young age, where he completed high school. At 17, he went to
Wits University
The University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg (), is a multi-campus South African public research university situated in the northern areas of central Johannesburg. It is more commonly known as Wits University or Wits ( or ). The university ...
. After completing his undergraduate degree, he entered the financial services industry where he built his career. During this time, he was a vigorous community activist and this prompted what he describes as his other career, politics.
Education
Dion holds BA (Hons), MBA (Wits) and DBL degrees, an Advanced Certificate in Municipal Governance and a Certificate in Leadership Coaching. His MBA research report entitled "Investment choice for individual members of retirement funds" received the Investec Securities Prize for the Best Research in the field of Investments.
Political career
He joined 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 1995 and, in 2005, was elected chairman of the DA branch in Sandown,
Sandton
Sandton is an upscale commercial and residential district north of the city of Johannesburg, South Africa. It forms part of the City of Johannesburg Metropolitan Municipality. The name of the city came from the combination of two of its suburbs, ...
. After the 2006 municipal elections, he served the City of
Johannesburg
Johannesburg ( , , ; Zulu and xh, eGoli ), colloquially known as Jozi, Joburg, or "The City of Gold", is the largest city in South Africa, classified as a megacity, and is one of the 100 largest urban areas in the world. According to Demo ...
as a PR councillor on various committees, including housing, finance and economic development and municipal accounts.
In January 2008, he took his seat in parliament where he served on the Portfolio Committee on Finance and as political head of the Sandton North and Midrand Constituency.
On his re-election to Parliament in 2009 he was appointed as the Shadow Minister of Finance. He was later appointed to the Standing Committee On Public Accounts (SCOPA). In 2014 he was re-appointed Shadow Minister of Finance. In May 2015 he resigned his seat in the National Assembly. In November 2018 he returned to Parliament and served in the Select Committee on Finance in the National Council of Provinces as a permanent delegate from the Western Cape. He was appointed political head of the Beaufort West Constituency. On his re-election to the National Assembly in May 2019 he was appointed Shadow Deputy Minister of Finance and elected Trustee of the Political Officer Bearers Pension Fund. He is the political head of the Knysna Constituency.
He holds a senior leadership role in the party as Chair of the Federal Finance Committee. He was previously Regional Finance Chair in Gauteng South and Provincial Finance Chair in Gauteng. First elected in 2010, he served until the Federal Congress in May 2015 where he did not seek re-election. He was re-elected in April 2018 and again in October 2020. He also serves on the party’s National Management Committee; Federal Executive and Federal Council.
His objective is to build a non-racial South Africa where everyone can become everything they are capable of becoming.
He continues to help the DA affirm its stance as the
Official Opposition
Parliamentary opposition is a form of political opposition to a designated government, particularly in a Westminster-based parliamentary system. This article uses the term ''government'' as it is used in Parliamentary systems, i.e. meaning ''th ...
in
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 ...
and is regarded as one of the great financial minds
in South Africa.
References
Offices held
{{DEFAULTSORT:George, Dion
Living people
Democratic Alliance (South Africa) politicians
Members of the National Assembly of South Africa
Year of birth missing (living people)
Politicians from Durban
Politicians from Gauteng
People from Vanderbijlpark
University of the Witwatersrand alumni
Members of the National Council of Provinces