| Tim Harris MP | |
|---|---|
| Western Cape representative in the National Council of Provinces | |
| Incumbent | |
| Assumed office 2009 |
|
| Leader | Helen Zille |
| Member of Parliament for Cape Town City Bowl and Atlantic Seaboard, Cape Town, Western Cape |
|
| Incumbent | |
| Assumed office 6 May 2009 |
|
| Personal details | |
| Nationality | South African |
| Political party | Democratic Alliance |
| Alma mater | University of Cape Town |
Tim Harris is a South African politician, currently a Democratic Alliance member of Parliament's National Assembly, where he serves as the Shadow Minister of Trade and Industry. A former chief of staff to party leader Tony Leon,[1] Harris was the party's national events manager during the 2009 general election campaign, and was subsequently elected to Parliament aged 29, initially to the National Council of Provinces where he served as the Western Cape's Provincial Whip before being moved to the National Assembly in a Shadow Cabinet reshuffle.[2]
Harris was born in Cape Town, but grew up in KwaZulu-Natal, where he attended Hilton College. He moved back to Western Cape to complete an undergraduate Bachelor of Arts degree at the University of Cape Town, majoring in English Literature and Economics. He then completed an honours degree in economics.[1] After briefly working at an investment bank in Johannesburg, Harris returned to Cape Town to complete his Masters in Economics, and subsequently joined the Democratic Alliance as a parliamentary economics researcher. In 2005 he was appointed as Chief of Staff for Tony Leon.
In late 2007 and early 2008 he travelled with two friends up Africa's west coast on a the first surf trip between Cape Town and London by the west coast route - garnering international attention in the process.[3] He told BBC News of the episode:
| “ | The biggest adventure was the 36 hours we spent trying to cross from the Congo to Gabon. We spent most of the day trying to cut our way through thick jungle, and our average speed was about half a kilometre a day. Then we tried to traverse a deep puddle, got stuck, and ran our battery down as we tried to get out. So we had to spend the night in the jungle.[3] | ” |
Upon returning to politics in 2009, he was appointed campaign events manager for the Democratic Alliance's 2009 election campaign, and was subsequently elected to the National Council of Provinces for the Western Cape.
He currently serves on the Portfolio Committee on Trade and Industry and previously served on the Select Committee on Finance, where he held the positions of Party Whip and Provincial Whip in the Council. He is also the party's International Liaison.[1] In November 2009 he told Leader World magazine:
| “ | [I]n the little bit I’ve travelled I’ve seen that this country is one where you can make a huge difference quite easily. We have, as it's often said, first world institutions, a great deal of first world infrastructure, and [a] first world press... [T]he potential for growth is massive – much more so than any developed market.[4] | ” |
On November 25, 2009, Harris brought to public attention a reply to a Democratic Alliance parliamentary question from Minister of Finance Pravin Gordhan, which showed that more than R240-billion had been spent bailing out state owned entities between 2006 and 2009 by the ANC government.[5] He pointed out that the sum was sufficient "to build at least four large coal-fired power stations".[6]