Marius Swart (194117 January 2021) was a South African politician and businessman. A member of the Democratic Alliance, he served as the inaugural Executive Mayor of the

George Local Municipality George Municipality ( af, George Munisipaliteit; xh, uMasipala wase Joji) is a municipality located in the Western Cape Province of South Africa. the population is 193,672. Its municipality code is WC044. Geography The municipality covers an ar ...

from 2000 to 2004, when he was elected to the National Assembly. After serving two terms in parliament, Swart retired from politics in 2014.

Early life and education

Swart was born in Swellendam in the Cape Province in 1941. He completed most of his school career in

Kimberley Kimberly or Kimberley may refer to: Places and historical events Australia * Kimberley (Western Australia) ** Roman Catholic Diocese of Kimberley * Kimberley Warm Springs, Tasmania * Kimberley, Tasmania a small town * County of Kimberley, a ...

before he matriculated at Voortrekker High School in Bethlehem in the Orange Free State in 1958. In 1965, Swart graduated from the University of Stellenbosch with a Bachelor of Arts in Business Economics and Psychology. After university, he worked in the corporate sector before he became the company director of Bolton Footwear. Swart later started his own business.

Political career

Swart joined the newly formed Democratic Alliance and stood as their mayoral candidate for the newly established

in the 2000 municipal elections. After the election, the council elected him as the first Executive Mayor of the municipality. In the DA, he was elected chairperson of the DA's East Region in the Western Cape and became a member of the provincial executive committee of the party. Later on, he was elected to the DA's provincial council, the Federal Council, the Federal Executive, and served as deputy federal chairperson. Swart served as mayor until his election to the National Assembly at the 2004 general election. In November 2006, Swart called for the Public Protector to probe the ongoing mayhem at the Department of Home Affairs. He also said that the department has the "reputation for being the most corrupt department." After his re-election 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 ...

, the newly elected DA parliamentary leader

Athol Trollip Roland Athol Price Trollip (born 12 March 1964) is a South African politician and provincial chairman of ActionSA in the Eastern Cape. He was previously a member of the Democratic Alliance (DA), serving as the Federal Chairperson of the DA from ...

appointed him as the DA's spokesperson on the Appropriations Committee and the Shadow Deputy Minister of Finance. In a shadow cabinet reshuffle in September 2010,

Kobus Marais Kobus Marais is a South African politician, Member of Parliament with the Democratic Alliance, and the current Shadow Minister of Defence and Military Veterans. Education and family life Marais was born on 26 June 1959 as Sarel Jacobus Francoi ...

was appointed to succeed him as Shadow Deputy Minister of Finance. He was reappointed by the newly appointed DA parliamentary leader,

Lindiwe Mazibuko Lindiwe Mazibuko (born 9 April 1980) is a Swazi-born South African academic, former politician, musician and the former leader of the Official Opposition Democratic Alliance (DA). She was elected DA Parliamentary Leader on 27 October 2011, beat ...

, as the DA's spokesperson on appropriations in February 2012. Ahead of the 2014 general election, Swart announced that he would be standing down as an MP and retiring from politics at the election.

Personal life and death

Swart was married to Sannett, and they had three children. They lived in

Herolds Bay Herolds Bay is a settlement in Garden Route District Municipality in the Western Cape province of South Africa. Holiday resort west of Malgas River mouth, some 24km south-west of George and east of Guano Bay. Named after the first Dutch Reformed ...

. On 8 January 2021, Swart was admitted to hospital in George after he had contracted COVID-19 during the

COVID-19 pandemic in South Africa The COVID-19 pandemic in South Africa is part of the ongoing pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). On 5 March 2020, Minister of Health Zweli Mkhize had conf ...

. He was reported as being in a critical condition. He died from the virus on 17 January.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Swart, Marius 1941 births People from Swellendam 2021 deaths People from George, South Africa Afrikaner people Mayors of places in South Africa South African businesspeople 21st-century South African politicians Democratic Alliance (South Africa) politicians Members of the National Assembly of South Africa Deaths from the COVID-19 pandemic in South Africa