Christopher Mark Lowe (born 3 April 1962) is a South African politician. He represented 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 ...

(DP) and Democratic Alliance (DA) 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 2001 to 2009, serving the

KwaZulu-Natal KwaZulu-Natal (, also referred to as KZN and known as "the garden province") is a province of South Africa that was created in 1994 when the Zulu bantustan of KwaZulu ("Place of the Zulu" in Zulu) and Natal Province were merged. It is locate ...

constituency. Before that, he represented the DP in the

KwaZulu-Natal Provincial Legislature The KwaZulu-Natal Legislature is the primary legislative body of the South African province of KwaZulu-Natal. It is unicameral in its composition and elects the premier and the provincial cabinet from among the leading party or coalition members ...

from 1999 to 2001 and was a long-serving local councillor 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 ...

Political career

Lowe served as a local councillor in

Durban North Durban North is an area to the north of Durban in the eThekwini Metropolitan Municipality, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. Durban North lies between the N2 freeway and the eastern seashore, with the Umgeni River forming its southern boundary. It ha ...

for about 11 years, and he was Deputy

Mayor of Durban Below is a list of mayors of Durban, South Africa. In 2000 Durban became the seat of the newly created eThekwini Metropolitan Municipality. 1854-1910 * , 1854–1856 (Includes portraits of mayors) * Edward Snell, 1856, 1867–69 * Savery Pinsen ...

in the mid-1990s. During his time in the latter position, he recruited

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 ...

, the party's future leader, to the DP. Lowe remained in the local council until the 1999 general election, when he was elected to a DP seat in the

. During his term there, in March 2001, he was ordered out of the legislature by the Speaker after he called Lucky Gabela of the

African National Congress The African National Congress (ANC) is a Social democracy, social-democratic political party in Republic of South Africa, South Africa. A liberation movement known for its opposition to apartheid, it has governed the country since 1994, when ...

a "liar". On 1 October 2001, Lowe was sworn in to a seat in the KwaZulu-Natal caucus of the National Assembly, swopping seats with

Omie Singh Aumsensingh "Omie" Singh (born 22 June 1957) is a South African politician and businessman from KwaZulu-Natal. From 2014 to 2019, he represented the African National Congress (ANC) in the National Council of Provinces, where he co-chaired Parl ...

. In March the following year, he became the DA's spokesman in the

Standing Committee on Public Accounts The Standing Committee on Public Accounts (SCOPA; Afrikaans: ''Staande Komitee oor Openbare Rekeninge'') is a standing committee of the National Assembly of South Africa, the lower house of the Parliament of South Africa. It oversees the financial ...

after

Raenette Taljaard Raenette Taljaard (born 4 July 1972), also known as Raenette Gottardo, is a South African academic and former politician. She represented the Democratic Party (DP) and Democratic Alliance (DA) in the National Assembly from June 1999 until her ...

resigned from the committee. In the 2004 general election, the DA nominated Lowe for re-election to a full term in the National Assembly. He was re-elected, and, during the legislative term that followed, he served as the party's spokesman on

labour Labour or labor may refer to: * Childbirth, the delivery of a baby * Labour (human activity), or work ** Manual labour, physical work ** Wage labour, a socioeconomic relationship between a worker and an employer ** Organized labour and the labour ...

and later on

home affairs An interior ministry (sometimes called a ministry of internal affairs or ministry of home affairs) is a government department that is responsible for internal affairs. Lists of current ministries of internal affairs Named "ministry" * Ministry ...

. He left Parliament after the 2009 general election. In 2014, Lowe nominated himself to stand as the DA's candidate in a

by-election A by-election, also known as a special election in the United States and the Philippines, a bye-election in Ireland, a bypoll in India, or a Zimni election (Urdu: ضمنی انتخاب, supplementary election) in Pakistan, is an election used to f ...

in his former ward in Durban North, where the incumbent councillor, Dean Macpherson, had been promoted to a parliamentary seat. However, the party did not select Lowe, and he complained to the media that he felt "betrayed". The DA's provincial chairperson, Haniff Hoosen, said that Lowe had not submitted his application on time and was not, in any case, eligible, since he was not registered to vote in Durban. Lowe said that, though he lived in

Cape Town Cape Town ( af, Kaapstad; , xh, iKapa) is one of South Africa's three capital cities, serving as the seat of the Parliament of South Africa. It is the legislative capital of the country, the oldest city in the country, and the second largest ...

, he owned properties in Durban.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lowe, Mark Living people Democratic Party (South Africa) politicians Democratic Alliance (South Africa) politicians 21st-century South African politicians 20th-century South African politicians Members of the KwaZulu-Natal Legislature Members of the National Assembly of South Africa 1962 births