Armiston "Watty" Watson (26 November 1944 – 12 October 2014) was a South African politician and Democratic Alliance stalwart. He served as the

Chief Whip The Chief Whip is a political leader whose task is to enforce the whipping system, which aims to ensure that legislators who are members of a political party attend and vote on legislation as the party leadership prescribes. United Kingdom ...

of the Official Opposition 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 2011 to 2014 under the leadership of

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 ...

. He was first elected to Parliament in 1994 as an MP for the National Party of South Africa. Watson was a founding member of the Democratic Alliance and served as the party's leader in the

National Council of Provinces The National Council of Provinces (NCOP) is the upper house of the Parliament of South Africa under the (post-apartheid) constitution which came into full effect in 1997. It replaced the former Senate, but is very similar to that body, and to ma ...

prior to being selected as Chief Whip of the party's National Assembly caucus. Watson left Parliament after the May 2014 elections and died in October of the same year.

Early life

Armiston Watson was born in

Matatiele Matatiele is a town located in the northern part of the Eastern Cape Province of South Africa. According to the South African National Census of 2011, its 12,466 residents (1,113.44 per km²) and 4,107 households (366.83 per km²) make Matatiel ...

. When he was approximately eight years old, his family moved to

Lesotho Lesotho ( ), officially the Kingdom of Lesotho, is a country landlocked country, landlocked as an Enclave and exclave, enclave in South Africa. It is situated in the Maloti Mountains and contains the Thabana Ntlenyana, highest mountains in Sou ...

. They later returned to South Africa. Watson matriculated from Port Natal High School and went on to study at the University of Pretoria where he studied commerce and management. He worked for the maize board until 1965. He later worked for Paragon Business Forms. The company soon promoted him from sales representative to head of sales and marketing. From 1981 to 1997, he worked for the Kontra Group.Watty Watson: DA chief whip who could be ‘too nice’
Retrieved on 7 February 2019.

Political career

Watson was mostly involved with the local politics of

Mpumalanga Mpumalanga () is a province of South Africa. The name means "East", or literally "The Place Where the Sun Rises" in the Swazi, Xhosa, Ndebele and Zulu languages. Mpumalanga lies in eastern South Africa, bordering Eswatini and Mozambique. It ...

. He served on the Transvaal Roads Board and the Nature Conservation Committee.Former DA Chief Whip Watty Watson dies
Retrieved on 7 February 2019. Watson was Deputy Mayor of the Marloth Park Local Council. He was then elected to the Onderberg Local Government Council and the Lowveld and Escarpment Regional Services Council. Watson served as Leader of the Opposition during his tenure on the Metsweding District Council. Watson was elected a Member of Parliament in the 1994 general election. He represented the National Party and later on the New National Party. He joined the Democratic Alliance following the formation of the party and was later appointed the leader of the party's caucus in the National Council of Provinces. In 2011, he was selected to be Chief Whip of the Democratic Alliance caucus in the National Assembly. He served in the position until he left Parliament in 2014.

Death and legacy

Watson died on 12 October 2014 in hospital in Pretoria following complications of a fall he had at his home, which broke his vertebra. Watson also had diabetes. Upon his death, the Federal Chairperson of the Democratic Alliance,

Wilmot James Wilmot Godfrey James (born 5 July 1953) is a South African academic who served as the country's opposition spokesperson of health and Member of Parliament for the opposition Democratic Alliance. His constituencies were Mitchells Plain and Rondeb ...

, and the Office of the ANC Chief Whip released statements in which they praised and remembered Watson.Former DA chief whip Watson dies
Retrieved on 7 February 2019.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Watson, Watty Living people Democratic Alliance (South Africa) politicians Members of the National Assembly of South Africa 1944 births Afrikaner people National Party (South Africa) politicians Members of the National Council of Provinces University of Pretoria alumni People from Matatiele Local Municipality