Frederik Petrus Nel (born 23 March 1970) is a South African politician who has served as a 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 N ...

since May 2009, representing the Democratic Alliance. He is the DA's Gauteng Shadow MEC for Roads and Transport. Nel was elected as the DA provincial chairperson in 2020.

Early life and education

Nel was born in Pretoria on 23 March 1970. He matriculated from Hoërskool Waterkloof in 1987. He earned a BA Honours degree in geography from the University of Pretoria. Nel worked in public relations, tourism marketing, market research and corporate social investment consulting before he became active in politics.

Political career

Nel started his political career in 1988 on the UP campus and was elected 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 ...

's National Youth Leader in 1992. He was elected as a DP councillor in the Greater Pretoria Metropolitan Council in 1998. In 2000, Nel was elected to the

City of Tshwane Metropolitan Municipality The City of Tshwane Metropolitan Municipality (also known as the City of Tshwane) () is the metropolitan municipality that forms the local government of northern Gauteng Province, South Africa. The Metropolitan area is centred on the city of Pr ...

council as a member of the Democratic Alliance. He was appointed caucus chief whip. Nel became caucus leader in 2003. In

2009 File:2009 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The vertical stabilizer of Air France Flight 447 is pulled out from the Atlantic Ocean; Barack Obama becomes the first African American to become President of the United States; 2009 Iran ...

, Nel was elected to the

. After his re-election in

2014 File:2014 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Stocking up supplies and personal protective equipment (PPE) for the Western African Ebola virus epidemic; Citizens examining the ruins after the Chibok schoolgirls kidnapping; Bundles of wat ...

, Nel was appointed Shadow MEC for Local Government and Human Settlements by DA caucus leader John Moodey. In 2016, he was appointed Shadow MEC for Roads and Transport. He was re-elected to another term in

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 ...

. Newly elected DA caucus leader Solly Msimanga announced that Nel would remain in his post. He is currently a member of the Roads & Transport Committee and the DA's constituency contact in Mamelodi West. In 2020, Nel announced his candidacy to succeed Michael Moriarty as provincial chairperson of the DA. He went up against the DA's chairperson in Ekurhuleni, Selby Thekiso. He won the election on 14 November 2020 with 67% of the vote. Bongani Nkomo was elected his deputy.

Personal life

Nel has three children named Caroux Nel, Derik Nel and Stefan Nel.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Nel, Fred Living people 1970 births Afrikaner people Politicians from Pretoria Democratic Alliance (South Africa) politicians Members of the Gauteng Provincial Legislature University of Pretoria alumni 21st-century South African politicians Democratic Party (South Africa) politicians