Mario Masher Explained

Mario George Masher (died 26 November 2020) was a South African politician from the Western Cape. He represented the National Party (NP) in the National Assembly from 1994 to 1999, when he defected to the African National Congress (ANC). A teacher by profession, he formerly represented the Labour Party in the Tricameral Parliament. After joining the ANC, he was appointed South African Consul-General to Hong Kong and Macau.

Early life and career

Masher was born in 1948 or 1949 in George in the former Cape Province; he was the eldest of several siblings.^[1] He was a teacher by profession and from 1980 to 1986^[2] he served as an independent local councillor in the now-defunct Pacaltsdorp Municipality.

Legislative career: 1988–1999

Masher served in the Coloured chamber of the apartheid-era Tricameral Parliament from 1988, representing the Labour Party. In South Africa's first post-apartheid elections in 1994, Masher was elected to represent the NP in the National Assembly, the lower house of the new South African Parliament.^[3] He served as a party whip for the NP (later restyled as the New National Party).^[4]

In April 1999, ahead of the 1999 general election, Masher announced that he was resigning from the NP to join the ruling ANC.^[5] He said that he was leaving the NP because the party and the Western Cape provincial government were being hijacked by right-wingers and P. W. Botha acolytes.^[6]

Later career

Masher was not re-elected to Parliament in 1999 but instead became a director in the Department of Foreign Affairs from 2000 to 2003. He was subsequently appointed as South African Consul-General to Hong Kong and Macau.

In 2016, he joined the Plaaslike Besorgde Inwoners (PBI; Concerned Local Residents), a minor political party based in George, and became its candidate for election as a councillor in George Local Municipality in the 2016 local elections. Although PBI won the seat, another candidate was sworn into the council.^[7] Masher died on 26 November 2020 of a heart attack, aged 71.

Notes and References

1. Web site: 3 December 2020 . Hulde gebring aan oudpolitikus . 2023-04-13 . George Herald . Afrikaans.
2. Web site: Mario George Masher . 2023-04-13 . Macao International Trade and Investment Fair.
3. Web site: 24 May 1994 . Minutes of proceedings of the Constitutional Assembly . 2 April 2023 . Department of Justice and Constitutional Development.
4. News: 7 April 1999 . NNP whip Masher quits to join ranks of ANC . Cape Argus . 13 April 2023.
5. Web site: 1999-04-09 . NNP voter support 'collapsing' . 2023-04-13 . The Mail & Guardian . en-ZA.
6. Book: Ferree, Karen E. . Framing the Race in South Africa: The Political Origins of Racial Census Elections . 2010 . Cambridge University Press . 978-1-139-49476-2 . 188 . en.
7. Web site: 11 August 2016 . Kingmakers make a beeline for mayco . 2023-04-13 . George Herald.