Mario Masher

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.

Mario Masher
Member of the National Assembly
In office
May 1994 – June 1999
Personal details
Born1948/1949
George, Cape Province
Union of South Africa
Died(2020-11-26)26 November 2020 (aged 71)
Political party

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.[1]

Legislative career: 1988–1999

Masher served in the Coloured chamber of the apartheid-era Tricameral Parliament from 1988,[2] representing the Labour Party.[1] 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.[4][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.[2] He was subsequently appointed as South African Consul-General to Hong Kong and Macau.[1][2]

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.[1] 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.[1]

References
  1. "Hulde gebring aan oudpolitikus". George Herald (in Afrikaans). 3 December 2020. Retrieved 13 April 2023.
  2. "Mario George Masher". Macao International Trade and Investment Fair. Retrieved 13 April 2023.
  3. "Minutes of proceedings of the Constitutional Assembly" (PDF). Department of Justice and Constitutional Development. 24 May 1994. Retrieved 2 April 2023.
  4. "NNP whip Masher quits to join ranks of ANC". Cape Argus. 7 April 1999. Retrieved 13 April 2023.
  5. "NNP voter support 'collapsing'". The Mail & Guardian. 9 April 1999. Retrieved 13 April 2023.
  6. Ferree, Karen E. (2010). Framing the Race in South Africa: The Political Origins of Racial Census Elections. Cambridge University Press. p. 188. ISBN 978-1-139-49476-2.
  7. "Kingmakers make a beeline for mayco". George Herald. 11 August 2016. Retrieved 13 April 2023.
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