Theo Willem Coetzee (7 July 1948 – 3 January 2023) was a South African politician. He served as a member of the

National Assembly of South Africa The National Assembly is the directly elected house of the Parliament of South Africa, located in Cape Town, Western Cape. It consists of four hundred members who are elected every five years using a party-list proportional representation syste ...

for the Democratic Alliance from 2009 until his defection to the Freedom Front Plus ahead of the 2014 general election. From 2019 Coetzee was the sole representative of the Freedom Front Plus in the

Eastern Cape Provincial Legislature The Eastern Cape Provincial Legislature is the primary legislative body of the South African province of Eastern Cape. It is unicameral in its composition, and elects the premier and the provincial cabinet from among the members of the leading par ...

Early life and education

Coetzee was born on 7 July 1948. He graduated from the University of the Free State with a Bachelor of Arts.

Career

Coetzee was considered an expert in the field of credit management. He served as a member of Bloem Water and Chairperson of the Financial and Audit Committee from 2001 to 2004. Coetzee was also a member of the Board of Trustees of Federated Timber's pension fund.

Political career

Coetzee was a councillor for the Democratic Alliance in the Mangaung Local Municipality from 1995 until his election to the

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 ...

. Following his swearing-in as an MP, Coetzee was appointed by 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 ...

as Shadow Deputy Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries. He later became Shadow Minister of State Security in June 2009. Coetzee was named to the

Joint Standing Committee on Intelligence A joint or articulation (or articular surface) is the connection made between bones, ossicles, or other hard structures in the body which link an animal's skeletal system into a functional whole.Saladin, Ken. Anatomy & Physiology. 7th ed. McGraw- ...

in August 2009. In a shadow cabinet reshuffle done by Trollip in 2010, Coetzee was demoted to Shadow Deputy Minister of State Security to Shadow Minister

Dirk Stubbe Dirk Jan Stubbe is a South African politician serving as a Member of the National Assembly for the opposition Democratic Alliance since September 2020, and previously from September 2010 to May 2019. Prior to his tenure in the National Assembly, ...

. He remained in the position following

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 ...

's election as DA parliamentary leader in 2011. Prior to the 2014 general election, Coetzee was one of three DA MPs who joined the Freedom Front Plus and subsequently stood as parliamentary candidates for the party. Coetzee was ranked 18th on the party's national list; he was not re-elected to parliament at the election. Coetzee stood as a candidate for the FF Plus in the 2019 general election and was elected to the

as the FF Plus won one seat.

Personal life

Coetzee was married to Magda. They had three sons. Coetzee died from cancer in

Gqeberha Gqeberha (), formerly Port Elizabeth and colloquially often referred to as P.E., is a major seaport and the most populous city in the Eastern Cape province of South Africa. It is the seat of the Nelson Mandela Bay Metropolitan Municipality, So ...

on 3 January 2023, at the age of 74.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Coetzee, Theo 1948 births 2023 deaths Deaths from cancer in South Africa Afrikaner people People from Bloemfontein University of the Free State alumni Democratic Alliance (South Africa) politicians Freedom Front Plus politicians Members of the National Assembly of South Africa Members of the Eastern Cape Provincial Legislature