David John Dalling (1939 – 1 August 2020) was a South African politician, lawyer, and political commentator. He served in the

apartheid Apartheid ( , especially South African English: , ; , ) was a system of institutionalised racial segregation that existed in South Africa and South West Africa (now Namibia) from 1948 to the early 1990s. It was characterised by an ...

-era

House of Assembly House of Assembly is a name given to the legislature or lower house of a bicameral parliament. In some countries this may be at a subnational level. Historically, in British Crown colonies as the colony gained more internal responsible g ...

from 1974 to 1994, representing the

Sandton Sandton is a financial, commercial and residential area, located in the northern part of the City of Johannesburg Metropolitan Municipality. Formerly an independent municipality, Sandton's name came from the combination of two of its suburbs, Sa ...

constituency. He later represented the

African National Congress The African National Congress (ANC) is a political party in South Africa. It originated as a liberation movement known for its opposition to apartheid and has governed the country since 1994, when the 1994 South African general election, fir ...

(ANC) 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 repr ...

from 1994 to 1999. In the House of Assembly, Dalling represented the United Party, the

Progressive Federal Party The Progressive Federal Party (PFP) () was a South African political party formed in 1977 through merger of the Progressive and Reform parties, eventually changing its name to the Progressive Federal Party. For its duration, it was the main parl ...

, and the Democratic Party, and then spent his last two years as an independent after publicly declaring his support for the ANC in 1992. After his term as an ANC representative, he terminated his membership in the party, and he joined the Congress of the People in 2009.

Early life and career

Born in 1939, Dalling was educated at

Pretoria Boys High School Pretoria Boys High School (colloquially known as "Boys High") is a public, Tuition payments, tuition-charging, English language, English-medium high school for boys situated in the suburb of Brooklyn, Pretoria, Brooklyn in Pretoria in the Gauten ...

, where he was

head boy The two Senior Prefects, individually called Head Boy (for the male), and Head Girl (for the female) are students who carry leadership roles and are responsible for representing the school's entire student body. Although mostly out of use, in some ...

in 1957. He also played inter-provincial

rugby Rugby may refer to: Sport * Rugby football in many forms: ** Rugby union: 15 players per side *** American flag rugby *** Beach rugby *** Mini rugby *** Rugby sevens, 7 players per side *** Rugby tens, 10 players per side *** Snow rugby *** Tou ...

until a hamstring injury prematurely ended his athletic career. After completing his undergraduate at

Wits University The University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg (), commonly known as Wits University or Wits, is a multi-campus public research university situated in the northern areas of central Johannesburg, South Africa. The university has its roots in ...

, he practiced as an attorney. He entered frontline politics in 1967, when he was elected to represent his political party, the United Party, as a city councillor in the

City of Johannesburg The City of Johannesburg Metropolitan Municipality () is a metropolitan municipality that manages the local governance of Johannesburg, the largest city in South Africa. It is divided into several branches and departments in order to expedite se ...

. He later represented the UP in the

Transvaal Transvaal is a historical geographic term associated with land north of (''i.e.'', beyond) the Vaal River in South Africa. A number of states and administrative divisions have carried the name ''Transvaal''. * South African Republic (1856–1902; ...

provincial legislature.

House of Assembly: 1974–1994

In 1974, Dalling was elected to the

, representing the UP in the wealthy constituency of

Sandton, Johannesburg Sandton is a financial, commercial and residential area, located in the northern part of the City of Johannesburg Metropolitan Municipality. Formerly an independent municipality, Sandton's name came from the combination of two of its suburbs, S ...

. After the collapse of the UP, Dalling was a member of the

and later of the Democratic Party (DP). In 1987, Dalling was censured as an MP for remarks he made in the chamber about the Munnik Commission, an inquiry which had prepared the ground for parliamentary action against First National Bank by finding that the bank had helped finance an advertising campaign calling for the unbanning of the anti-apartheid

(ANC). During a parliamentary debate, Dalling alleged that the chairperson of the commission,

Cape A cape is a clothing accessory or a sleeveless outer garment of any length that hangs loosely and connects either at the neck or shoulders. They usually cover the back, shoulders, and arms. They come in a variety of styles and have been used th ...

Judge President George Munnik, had a

conflict of interest A conflict of interest (COI) is a situation in which a person or organization is involved in multiple wikt:interest#Noun, interests, financial or otherwise, and serving one interest could involve working against another. Typically, this relates t ...

insofar as he was a supporter of the governing

National Party National Party or Nationalist Party may refer to: Active parties * National Party of Australia, commonly known as ''The Nationals'' * Bangladesh: ** Bangladesh Nationalist Party ** Jatiya Party (Ershad) a.k.a. ''National Party (Ershad)'' * Californ ...

and insofar as his own bank accounts had been closed by First National Bank. Dalling said that the commission's report was "a travesty of justice initiated by the

state president The State President of the Republic of South Africa () was the head of state of South Africa from 1961 to 1994. The office was established when the country became a republic on 31 May 1961, outside the Commonwealth of Nations, and Queen Eli ...

", remarks which Minister of Justice

Kobie Coetsee Hendrik Jacobus Coetsee (19 April 1931 – 29 July 2000), known as Kobie Coetsee, was a South African lawyer, National Party politician and administrator as well as a negotiator during the country's transition to universal democracy. Biograp ...

said constituted "gutter politics of the worst sort". In 1990, after the ANC was unbanned during the

negotiations to end apartheid The apartheid system in South Africa was ended through a series of bilateral and multi-party negotiations between 1990 and 1993. The negotiations culminated in the passage of a new interim Constitution in 1993, a precursor to the Constitution ...

, Dalling publicly advocated for his party, the DP, to forge a multi-racial alliance with the ANC. Later the same year, Dalling was subject to a Stratcom operation by the police's Security Branch: the ''

Star A star is a luminous spheroid of plasma (physics), plasma held together by Self-gravitation, self-gravity. The List of nearest stars and brown dwarfs, nearest star to Earth is the Sun. Many other stars are visible to the naked eye at night sk ...

'' printed a copy of a cheque, apparently signed by Dalling, for ANC membership fees. Policeman Paul Erasmus later admitted that the original cheque had been signed by Dalling's wife, for her own ANC

membership Member may refer to: * Military jury, referred to as "Members" in military jargon * Element (mathematics), an object that belongs to a mathematical set * In object-oriented programming, a member of a class ** Field (computer science), entries in ...

, and that Dalling's signature had been forged. However, in April 1992, Dalling did in fact join the ANC. With four other DP parliamentarians – Jannie Momberg, Pierre Cronjé, Jan van Eck, and

Robert Haswell Robert Haswell (November 24, 1768 – 1801?) was an early American maritime fur trader to the Pacific Northwest of North America. His journals of these voyages are the main records of Captain Robert Gray's circumnavigation of the globe. Later d ...

– he announced that he was defecting from the DP to join the ANC. In a joint statement, the group said that they were responding to a call made by

Nelson Mandela Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela ( , ; born Rolihlahla Mandela; 18 July 1918 – 5 December 2013) was a South African Internal resistance to apartheid, anti-apartheid activist and politician who served as the first president of South Africa f ...

shortly after his release from prison in 1990, for "all our white compatriots to join us in the shaping of a new South Africa". Dalling and the others remained in the House of Assembly as independents for the rest of the parliamentary term.

Post-apartheid political career

In South Africa's first post-apartheid elections in 1994, Dalling was elected to represent the ANC in the new, multi-racial

, where he was a

whip A whip is a blunt weapon or implement used in a striking motion to create sound or pain. Whips can be used for flagellation against humans or animals to exert control through pain compliance or fear of pain, or be used as an audible cue thro ...

for the ANC. He served a single term in the seat before leaving after the 1999 general election, according to Dalling at his own request. He had business interests during his term in Parliament, and after his retirement from the legislature, he ran a tour guide company,

Diplomatic Diplomatics (in American English, and in most anglophone countries), or diplomatic (in British English), is a scholarly discipline centred on the critical analysis of documents, especially historical documents. It focuses on the conventions, pr ...

Destinations. He was also a political commentator, publishing columns in several newspapers. He later revealed that he had terminated his ANC membership in the years after 1999, due to "problems of conscience" arising from party infighting, President

Thabo Mbeki Thabo Mvuyelwa Mbeki (; born 18 June 1942) is a South African politician who served as the 2nd democratic president of South Africa from 14 June 1999 to 24 September 2008, when he resigned at the request of his party, the African National Cong ...

's policy on

HIV/AIDS The HIV, human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) is a retrovirus that attacks the immune system. Without treatment, it can lead to a spectrum of conditions including acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS). It is a Preventive healthcare, pr ...

and the increasing authoritarianism of

Robert Mugabe Robert Gabriel Mugabe (; ; 21 February 1924 – 6 September 2019) was a Zimbabwean revolutionary and politician who served as Prime Minister of Zimbabwe from 1980 to 1987 and then as President from 1987 to 2017. He served as Leader of th ...

in neighbouring Zimbabwe, "the crass behaviour" 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 names Nxamalala and Msholozi. Zuma was a for ...

, and the ANC's lacklustre response to corruption in the Arms Deal and

Travelgate The White House travel office controversy, sometimes referred to as Travelgate,
''

. He assisted Patricia de Lille's minor party, the

Independent Democrats The Independent Democrats (ID) was a South African political party, formed by former Pan Africanist Congress member Patricia de Lille in 2003 via floor crossing legislation. The party's platform was premised on opposition to corruption, with ...

, in 2008, but in February 2009, he announced that he had joined the Congress of the People (COPE), a breakaway from the ANC formed in late 2008. He said that he was attracted by COPE's commitment to non-racism, its defence of the rule of law, and its acknowledgement that

affirmative action Affirmative action (also sometimes called reservations, alternative access, positive discrimination or positive action in various countries' laws and policies) refers to a set of policies and practices within a government or organization seeking ...

was causing brain drain.

Personal life

Dalling was married to Katharine Ambrose, an artist, and had four adult children from previous

marriages Marriage, also called matrimony or wedlock, is a culturally and often legally recognised union between people called spouses. It establishes rights and obligations between them, as well as between them and their children (if any), and b ...

. He died in hospital in

Somerset West Somerset West () is a town in the Western Cape, South Africa. Organisationally and administratively it is included in the City of Cape Town metropolitan municipality (South Africa), metropolitan municipality Eastern Suburbs zone (formerly called ...

on 1 August 2020 after several years of illness.

References

External links

Articles by David Dalling
at the ''

Witness In law, a witness is someone who, either voluntarily or under compulsion, provides testimonial evidence, either oral or written, of what they know or claim to know. A witness might be compelled to provide testimony in court, before a grand jur ...

'' 1939 births 2020 deaths 21st-century South African politicians Members of the National Assembly of South Africa 1994–1999 Members of the House of Assembly (South Africa) Politicians from Gauteng Alumni of Pretoria Boys High School University of the Witwatersrand alumni African National Congress politicians United Party (South Africa) politicians Progressive Federal Party politicians Democratic Party (South Africa) politicians {{DEFAULTSORT:Dalling, David