Phillip David Dexter (born 1 December 1962) is a South African politician, activist, and entrepreneur. He has held many positions in various organisations. Dexter was a senior researcher in the Social Cohesion and Integration Research Programme of the

Human Sciences Research Council The Human Sciences Research Council (HSRC) of South Africa is Africa's largest dedicated social science and humanities research agency and policy think tank. It primarily conducts large-scale, policy-relevant, social-scientific projects for publi ...

(HSRC). Before joining the HSRC, he was an executive director of the

National Economic Development and Labour Council National may refer to: Common uses * Nation or country ** Nationality – a ''national'' is a person who is subject to a nation, regardless of whether the person has full rights as a citizen Places in the United States * National, Maryland, ce ...

(Nedlac). Dexter holds a Doctorate of Philosophy in Religious Studies, a BA in Philosophy and Politics, and a Master of Philosophy degree from the

University of Cape Town The University of Cape Town (UCT) ( af, Universiteit van Kaapstad, xh, Yunibesithi ya yaseKapa) is a public research university in Cape Town, South Africa. Established in 1829 as the South African College, it was granted full university statu ...

. He entered politics as a student activist; after spending seven years in exile, he returned to South Africa in 1990. He served as general secretary of the

National Education, Health and Allied Workers' Union The National Education, Health and Allied Workers' Union (NEHAWU) is a trade union in South Africa. With a membership of 235,000 it is the largest public sector union in the country. It organizes State, Health, Education and Welfare workers. H ...

(Nehawu) until elected to Parliament as an

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 ...

(ANC) MP in 1994, where he served on the Labour, Public Service and Administration, and Finance Portfolio committees. Dexter was a member of the National Executive of the ANC, and the Central Committee and Politburo of the

South African Communist Party The South African Communist Party (SACP) is a communist party in South Africa. It was founded in 1921 as the Communist Party of South Africa (CPSA), tactically dissolved itself in 1950 in the face of being declared illegal by the governing Na ...

(SACP). He was also treasurer of the SACP. He fell out with the SACP leadership in 2007. He also acted as non-executive director for the International Marketing Council, Nehawu Investment Company, the Parliamentary Millennium Project Advisory Board, the Proudly South African campaign, South African Tourism, and the National Export Advisory Board of Trade & Investment South Africa. Dexter has served as the spokesperson for the Congress of the People (COPE) – a political party the which was formed as a result of a split within the

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

. In 2012 he left COPE, resigned his seat in parliament and rejoined the ANC. He has also been a director of a number of companies in the mining, energy, property and manufacturing sectors, in addition he was a trustee of a non profit organisation called Indibano Foundation.

Controversies

*In 2011, before he left COPE and rejoined the ANC, Dexter drafted a discussion in which he put forward his personal views on the state of the Congress of the People, claiming that: **party election lists were manipulated in both the 2009 and the 2011 elections **party funds were mismanaged and "routinely abused". **party mayoral candidates were inappropriate. *Dexter opened a case of abduction against his ex-wife in 2011, for apparently leaving the country with his 5-year-old daughter. *In 2016 Dexter was accused by a number of

members loyal to

Marius Fransman Marius Llewellyn Fransman (born 15 August 1969) is a retired South African politician and teacher. He served as Leader of the Opposition in the Western Cape Provincial Parliament from 2014 to 2016, and as Chairperson of the Western Cape African ...

Western Cape The Western Cape is a province of South Africa, situated on the south-western coast of the country. It is the fourth largest of the nine provinces with an area of , and the third most populous, with an estimated 7 million inhabitants in 2020 ...

ANC leader who was accused of sexual assault, of helping to set a "honeytrap" for the provincial leader. Dexter denied this accusation *In 2016 Dexter again publicly criticized the

and called for, among other things, the recall of

Jacob Zuma Jacob Gedleyihlekisa Zuma (; born 12 April 1942) is a South African politician who served as the fourth president of South Africa from 2009 to 2018. He is also referred to by his initials JZ and clan name Msholozi, and was a former anti-aparth ...

, the president of South Africa.

Works

* *

Notes and references

External links

Profile on the People's Assembly

Interview with Dexter
{{DEFAULTSORT:Dexter, Phillip 1962 births Living people African National Congress politicians Congress of the People (South African political party) politicians Members of the National Assembly of South Africa University of Cape Town alumni

Controversies

Works

See also

Notes and references

Further reading

External links