Vasco Manoel da Gama (born 29 January 1959) is a South African politician with the Democratic Alliance and a member of the Johannesburg City Council. He most recently served as the Johannesburg council speaker until 31 August 2022 when a motion of no confidence was settled with 136 votes for the motion and 132 against it, resulting in Da Gama’s ouster.

Early life and education

Da Gama was born in Louis Trichardt, Transvaal (now Limpopo) in 1959. In 1969, his family was forcibly removed from their homes as part of the government's apartheid policy, which led to Da Gama to study at a

Coloured Coloureds ( af, Kleurlinge or , ) refers to members of multiracial ethnic communities in Southern Africa who may have ancestry from more than one of the various populations inhabiting the region, including African, European, and Asian. South ...

-only school.

Career

In 2011, he ran as a DA mayoral candidate for Johannesburg before a panel of 30 people, including party leader and Premier of the Western Cape Helen Zille, but was defeated by Mmusi Maimane. Following Maimane's departure to the National Assembly in 2014, Da Gama was appointed leader of the DA's caucus, a position he had previously held. In August 2016, Da Gama was elected

council speaker A council is a group of people who come together to consult, deliberate, or make decisions. A council may function as a legislature, especially at a town, city or county/shire level, but most legislative bodies at the state/provincial or natio ...

. He was removed as speaker in December 2019 and replaced with the ANC's Nonceba Molwele. After the 2021 local government elections, the DA put him forward as their candidate for council speaker. He was elected council speaker at the inaugural council meeting on 22 November 2021 after he received 147 out of the 265 votes. The ANC's Eunice Mgcina received only 118 votes.

Personal life

Born in modern-day Limpopo, Da Gama later moved to

Alexandra Alexandra () is the feminine form of the given name Alexander (, ). Etymologically, the name is a compound of the Greek verb (; meaning 'to defend') and (; GEN , ; meaning 'man'). Thus it may be roughly translated as "defender of man" or "prot ...

in Gauteng. He currently lives in

Eldorado Park Eldorado Park is a suburb of Soweto, Johannesburg, South Africa. It is located in Region G of the City of Johannesburg Metropolitan Municipality. It lies on the southern boundary of Soweto and prior to 1994, was a Coloured township during A ...

with his wife. He reportedly speaks all eleven official languages of South Africa. Following his election, he received attention for his name, which he shares with 16th century Portuguese explorer

Vasco da Gama Vasco da Gama, 1st Count of Vidigueira (; ; c. 1460s – 24 December 1524), was a Portuguese explorer and the first European to reach India by sea. His initial voyage to India by way of Cape of Good Hope (1497–1499) was the first to link E ...

, among the first Europeans to visit the

Cape of Good Hope The Cape of Good Hope ( af, Kaap die Goeie Hoop ) ;''Kaap'' in isolation: pt, Cabo da Boa Esperança is a rocky headland on the Atlantic coast of the Cape Peninsula in South Africa. A common misconception is that the Cape of Good Hope is t ...

References

Democratic Alliance (South Africa) politicians South African people of Mozambican descent People from Louis Trichardt People from Alexandra, Gauteng People from Johannesburg 1959 births Living people Coloured South African people {{Gauteng-politician-stub