Janet Audrey Semple (born 29 March 1955) is a retired South African politician who 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 Natio ...

for the Democratic Alliance (DA) from 2010 to 2019. She was the Provincial Leader of the DA in

Gauteng Gauteng ( ) is one of the nine provinces of South Africa. The name in Sotho-Tswana languages means 'place of gold'. Situated on the Highveld, Gauteng is the smallest province by land area in South Africa. Although Gauteng accounts for only ...

from 2010 to 2012. She previously represented the DA and

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) 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 ...

from 1999 to 2009.

Early life and career

Semple was born on 29 March 1955. She started her political career by serving as both the mayor and deputy mayor of Bedfordview. She was a member of the

Women's National Coalition The Women's National Coalition was established in South Africa in April 1992 as a national alliance of women's groups across the country. Women were represented from across the political, economic, racial, cultural and religious spectrum. The coali ...

Parliament

Semple joined the National Assembly in the 1999 general election, representing the DP, and stood successfully for re-election in

2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 6 ...

, ranked fourth on the Gauteng party list of the DA, the DP's successor party. She was also Chairperson of the Democratic Alliance's Women Network from 2005 to 2009 and the DA's political head in Benoni. She left Parliament after the 2009 general election.

Provincial legislature

Helen Zille and Gauteng DA leader Janet Semple

Semple was elected the Provincial Leader of the Democratic Alliance in April 2010. She defeated incumbent

John Moodey John Clifford Moodey (born 22 November 1958) is a South African politician who served as the Provincial Leader of the Democratic Alliance (DA) in Gauteng from 2007 to 2010 and from 2012 to 2020. Moodey was a Member of the Gauteng Provincial Legi ...

by just 8 votes. She was soon appointed to the

in October 2010. She became the party's provincial spokesperson on Housing and the party's head in Boksburg. Semple announced her retirement as the provincial leader in January 2012. Her predecessor, John Moodey, was elected as her successor at the party's March 2012 conference. She left the Gauteng Provincial Legislature at the May 2019 general election.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Semple, Janet Living people People from Germiston Members of the Gauteng Provincial Legislature Democratic Alliance (South Africa) politicians Women members of the National Assembly of South Africa Members of the National Assembly of South Africa 21st-century South African politicians 20th-century South African politicians White South African people 21st-century South African women politicians 1955 births