Cilliers Brink (born 12 June 1987) is a South African politician. He currently serves as the Mayor of Tshwane, elected in March 2023. He is a member of the Democratic Alliance.
Brink was DA’s Shadow Minister of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs between 2020 and 2023. He was a Member of Parliament (MP) between 2019 and 2013. He became the elected DA councilor in Tshwane in 2011.
| Cilliers Brink | |
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| Background Information | |
| Full name: | Cilliers Brink |
| Born: | 12 June 1987 (age 36 years old) |
| Place of birth: | East Rand, Gauteng |
| Nationality: | South African |
| Education: | Law |
| Alma mater: | University of Pretoria |
| Occupation: | Politician, legislator |
| Profession: | Lawyer |
| Political Party: | Democratic Alliance (DA) |
| Children: | 2 |
| Residence: | Pretoria |
| Position: | Mayor of Tshwane |
Early Life
Cilliers Brink was born on 12 June 1987 on the East Rand in Gauteng. He grew up in Phalaborwa in Limpopo. He is a law graduate from the University of Pretoria. The politician had shown interest in politics since a young age.
Career
Politics
Brink began his political journey after he was elected Tshwane councilor in 2012. He served on the mayoral committee, working as MEC for corporate and shared services, in 2016. He was the first DA politician to assume this post.
The renowned politician was deployed to Parliament as the DA’s deputy shadow minister of cooperative governance and traditional affairs (Cogta) in 2019.
Brink served until 2020 before becoming the shadow minister for Cogta (2020-2022). He is currently the DA’s national spokesperson. He is a member of the Democratic Alliance, the official opposition to the African National Congress.
Legislative
Before the general elections held on 8 May 2019, the Democratic Alliance published the list of the candidates.
Brink was the 10th on the party’s Gauteng list of National Assembly candidates. He was 33rd on the party’s national candidate list for the National Assembly. He made it on the party’s provincial list for the provincial legislature as the 67th.
Brink won election to the National Assembly on the party’s national list and was sworn into office in May 2019.
Brink became the Shadow Deputy Minister of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs in June 2019. He became a Member of the Portfolio Committee on Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs on 27 June 2019.
Cilliers succeeded Haniff Hoosen as the Shadow Minister for the portfolio on 5 December 2020.
Mayor of Tshwane
Following the resignation of DA member Randall Williams as Mayor on 13 February 2023, Cilliers and other members of the party were interviewed to occupy the position.
On 21 February 2023, he was the announced candidate of the Democratic Alliance.
On 28 March 2023, Brink became the mayor-elect after defeating COPE’s new councilor, Ofentse Moalusi. He had 109 votes compared to Moalus, who had 102 votes, winning with a total of seven votes.
His rise to the position of mayor has not been easy. Dr Murunwa Makwarela first beat him to the post on 28 February 2023. He received blame for the DA-led multiparty coalition’s loss of the Tshwane Speaker’s position on 14 March 2023.
Personal Life
Cilliers Brink has a wife and two young children. He met his wife on the Tuks campus at a DA table. The couple got married in 2014. He resides in Pretoria, the administrative capital of South Africa.
Positions
Current
- Member of Democratic Alliance (DA)
- Mayor of Tshwane
Former
- Member of the Portfolio Committee on Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs at the National Assembly Committees.
- Member of National Assembly (Parliament).
- 67th Candidate on Democratic Alliance Provincial Gauteng Election List 2019.
- 33rd Candidate on Democratic Alliance National Election List 2019.
- 10th Candidate on Democratic Alliance Regional Gauteng Election List 2019.